Bulgaria’s tourist sector is showing mixed signals this season, with officials warning that infrastructure readiness is not translating into visitor numbers, according to Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov in an interview with BNT.
Dimitrov said that although resorts across the country are fully prepared to receive guests, actual arrivals remain weak. He pointed to Eurostat figures released recently, which place Bulgaria last in the European Union for tourism growth in the January–April 2026 period compared with the same months a year earlier.
While the EU as a whole recorded an average increase of 4.5%, Bulgaria registered a decline of around 4%, a development the minister described as a serious warning sign for the sector’s performance.
He argued that the downturn reflects decisions made under the previous leadership of the Ministry of Tourism. According to him, key source markets have been negatively affected, with Germany and Romania identified as the most significant contributors to the drop in arrivals.
Dimitrov also criticized past spending decisions, claiming that resources were allocated to projects with limited practical impact. He cited, among other examples, BGN 48,000 spent on printed photographic materials, with installation costs reportedly reaching BGN 41 per screw.
