Last year was golden for Bulgaria in many senses: lots of ancient golden artifacts discovered, lots of golden-size investments made and lots of foreign tourists coming to this country.
“The Thracians. The Golden Kingdom of Orpheus”, an exhibition opened from July 2004 to January 2005 in the Kunst- und Austellungshalle in Bonn, has attracted 165 000 viewers, the Culture Ministry said on January 25.
Bulgarian exhibitions of Thracian gold were shown in Japan, Italy, the US, Finland and Belgium in the past 10 years and the interest towards them is constantly growing, which is a reason for optimistic forecasts about the interest towards Bulgaria in general.
However, it is still difficult for local tour operators to bring foreign tourists because of the ancient Thracians’ artifacts. Lack of infrastructure, lack of advertising, and maybe also lack of enough entrepreneurial spirit are the barriers for the success in this direction.
Artifacts will most probably lead to a serious increase in the coming years and raise the otherwise not bad figures that the local tourist industry recorded for 2004.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Bulgaria rose last year by 14.38 per cent, to 4 629 854, the Economy Ministry said on January 27.
A strong rise in the number of visitors from EU member states led the growth. Their number increased 23.9 per cent from 1 558 077 to 1 930 429. However the top grower was the UK, as the number of Brits that visited Bulgaria jumped by 62.6 per cent from about 160 000 to about 260 000 in 2004.
Government had projected tourism revenue would rise 12 per cent in 2004 but the figures are yet to be calculated and published. Revenue grew to $1.6 billion in 2003 from $1.33 billion for 2002, sustaining the upward trend from the previous three years.
“The Thracians. The Golden Kingdom of Orpheus”, an exhibition opened from July 2004 to January 2005 in the Kunst- und Austellungshalle in Bonn, has attracted 165 000 viewers, the Culture Ministry said on January 25.
Bulgarian exhibitions of Thracian gold were shown in Japan, Italy, the US, Finland and Belgium in the past 10 years and the interest towards them is constantly growing, which is a reason for optimistic forecasts about the interest towards Bulgaria in general.
However, it is still difficult for local tour operators to bring foreign tourists because of the ancient Thracians’ artifacts. Lack of infrastructure, lack of advertising, and maybe also lack of enough entrepreneurial spirit are the barriers for the success in this direction.
Artifacts will most probably lead to a serious increase in the coming years and raise the otherwise not bad figures that the local tourist industry recorded for 2004.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Bulgaria rose last year by 14.38 per cent, to 4 629 854, the Economy Ministry said on January 27.
A strong rise in the number of visitors from EU member states led the growth. Their number increased 23.9 per cent from 1 558 077 to 1 930 429. However the top grower was the UK, as the number of Brits that visited Bulgaria jumped by 62.6 per cent from about 160 000 to about 260 000 in 2004.
Government had projected tourism revenue would rise 12 per cent in 2004 but the figures are yet to be calculated and published. Revenue grew to $1.6 billion in 2003 from $1.33 billion for 2002, sustaining the upward trend from the previous three years.
