Bulgaria's tourist industry has recorded a 15 per cent drop in its "seasonal workforce" as a consequence of the global economic downturn, Tsvetan Tonchev, president of the Bulgarian Chamber of Tourism, was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian news agency (BTA) on January 19 2010.

In total, about 110 000 people were employed in the industry sector in 2009.

In spite of growing unemployment in the sector, the industry still insists that there is a "demand" for a qualified and skilled workforce and a "lack of supply" to fill certain positions.

As redundancies become reality, the sector actually strives to employ skilled staff, particularly "trained and qualified servicing personnel", according to Tonchev.

Among the resorts that have indicated a drop in seasonal staff this year are the ski resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo. This is perhaps unsurprising given the weak winter season until now and the lack of snow at Bulgaria's major ski resorts, which in addition to the already potent economic crisis, exacerbates the situation.

Chepelare, Stoikite, Momchilovtsi, Dobrinishte and Razlog, are also resorts reporting a drop in employee numbers.

Official statistics put unemployment at 9.3 per cent at end-December 2009 and the government forecast is for a jobless rate of 13.8 per at the end of 2010. However, those figures only take into account the people who have filed for unemployment benefits, but the reality is that a large number never file for benefits, and so remain unrecorded.