Nearly five per cent more foreign tourists visited Bulgarian resorts in the summer of 2006 compared to figures for the same period last year.

The number of tourists from the UK, Ireland, Scandinavian countries and Romania was on the rise, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Representatives of the State Agency for Tourism (SAT) said that Bulgaria had overcome the problem with low number of visits from EU member countries.

Between January and July more than 2.84 million foreign tourists visited the country, not taking into account transit passage through Bulgaria. The number represents a 4.82 per cent increase in comparison with last year’s figures.

The increase for July was 10.61 per cent.

Most foreigners that visited the country came from Greece, followed by tourists from Serbia, Macedonia, Germany, the UK, Romania, Turkey, Russia and the Czech Republic.

The number of German visits to the country went down and could be related to over-construction and other problems related to service, the national radio reported.