Nearly 30 000 Romanian tourists passed through the Rousse border checkpoint on the eve of Easter.

On Friday alone, 10 000 Romanians headed to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Dnevnik newspaper reported.

Despite the visa-free regime, large queues formed at the border checkpoint because of the big number of people willing to enter Bulgaria.

The interest was a good sign in the beginning of summer season 2007, tourism agents said.  Nearly 4000 Romanians visited Albena coastal resort. The number of visitors to Golden Sands and St Konstantin and Elena resorts exceeded 20 0000.

Actual figures could be 30 per cent higher than the officially registered since many Romanians visited the country on their own, without using organised tourism services.

Romanians prefer Bulgaria because of the nearly two times lower prices, Dnevnik said. Visitors said that they were content with the level of service and the tourism attractions Bulgaria offers.

Dnevnik reported that the number of entries through checkpoints at the borders with Macedonia and Greece were also higher over the weekend.