The tourism industry in Bulgaria is characterised by high hopes and deep problems.

On the upside, in 2004 foreign tourism turnover reached 2.4 billion euro, while revenues were 1.7 billion euro.

This latter figure represented about 11 per cent of GDP in 2004.

According to National Statistics Institute figures released on March 10, 2005, more than seven million foreigners visited Bulgaria in 2004, up 11.9 per cent year on year, and of the total number of visitors, 4.01 million were tourists. Visitors from Ireland increased the most, by 81.6 per cent, followed by the United Kingdom (60.5 per cent) and Portugal (60 per cent). The highest number of tourists was from Greece (707 000), followed by Macedonians (656 000), Serbia-Montenegro (577 000), Germany (565 000), the UK (259 000) and Russia (121 000).

Over the past three years, the number of foreign tourists to Bulgaria increased 50 per cent, according to statistics held by the Economy Ministry, which before the February 2005 Cabinet restructuring was responsible for tourism.

According to the same records, investments in the tourism sector exceeded 500 million euro in the past five years, with about 90 per cent of private investments being of Bulgarian origin. There has been a rapid increase in the construction of large-scale hotels at the Black Sea coast and at mountain resorts, and this trend is expected to continue for the next few years.

According to March 2005 figures, a total of 1306 hotels, rest houses and camp sites provided to both Bulgarian and foreign guests 86 000 rooms and 190 000 beds in 2004. A total of 1016 hotels are located along the Black Sea coast, of which 269 are in Varna, 191 in Bourgas and 86 around Dobrich.

Projections are that the number of foreign visitors will rise by a further 12 per cent this year.

Some within the country and the hospitality industry hope that Bulgaria can win a slice of the international convention business.

The problems facing the tourist industry are manifold.

The country attracts low-budget visitors from the West, many arriving as participants in charter groups that have no trend of spending outside of the “all-inclusive” terms of their tours.

There has been negative publicity abroad and domestically about the “construction tourism” that results from building work at the seaside and in the mountains continuing during season, an unpleasant experience for visitors. National and local governments have attempted to curb this problem, but some tour agents have cancelled bookings because of concerns that dissatisfied clients will demand refunds.

Other problems include inadequate infrastructure, insufficient capacity at airports at the coastal cities of Varna and Bourgas, inadequately trained hospitality industry workers, and the country’s continuing failure to launch a high-profile, professional, international marketing campaign.

In addition, Bulgaria is not a party to international agreements in the air industry that have allowed low-cost airlines to flourish in other countries, making the country one of the most expensive countries to reach by regular air services.

For all the problems, the 2005 tourist year made a strong start, with foreign tourists visiting the country in January numbering almost 196 000, about 13.68 per cent more than in the first month of 2004.

A significant development was the creation, as part of the February 2005 Cabinet restructuring, of a new Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Minister Nina Chilova has pledged to build a framework for modern development of culture and tourism. Bulgaria has many potential niches to develop, including eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and archeological tourism, given the spectacular recent discoveries in the country.