The number of Bulgarians traveling abroad is almost unchanged since the country became EU member state on January 1 2007, a Bulgarian news agency (BTA) survey among leading tourism agencies showed.

More people traveled than usual but this was typical for the holiday season, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

In December and January mostly students and tourists traveled abroad, representatives of tourism agencies said.

The actual travel figures could be estimated after January 15. Agency representatives said that the demand for tickets for the period after mid-January was not higher than usual.

Highest number of Bulgarians were interested in travel to Prague and Spanish cities. More than 90 per cent of these people were workers.

The number of illegally traveling workers was higher to Spain, as it was one of the most attractive foreign destinations for Bulgarian labourers, the report said.