Bourgas and Sunny Beach region expect to receive 2,498,000 tourists in 2013.

Official statistics from visa applications and holiday bookings suggest this summer will see not less than a 5% increase in the volume of tourists visiting Sunny Beach by comparison to last year. Russian visa applications are at record levels this summer with Bulgaria’s embassy in Moscow reporting a record of having received more than 7,000 Russian visa applications in one day in May.

This year Varna region will see an influx of 1.26 million tourists, coming predominantly from (in order of volume): Russia, Ukraine, UK and Scandinavia. Bourgas and Sunny Beach will receive 2.48 million tourists coming predominantly from (in order of volume): Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Scandinavia, Germany and the UK.

Growth at 5% is thought to be 0.7% less than previous years, however previous years were dramatically impacted by the comparatively low tourist figures of the recession struck summers of 2009 and 2010. With continued troubles in the major rival holiday markets of Egypt and Turkey, Bulgaria looks to be well positioned to dominate Europe’s least expensive sunshine holiday market.