14 November 2007 Newsletter

Foriegn tourists in Bulgaria spend Euro 320 on average

The average length of their stay is shortening, since 2001 the number of all-inclusive packets has grown nearly 4 times

The average length of the foreign tourists' stay in Bulgaria in 2007 has been 9.9 nights, which is by 24 hours less than it was in 2004. Visitors from the neighbouring countries stay the shortest - either for the weekend or on their national holidays. Scandinavian, Russian and British tourists stay the longest.

The average age of the foreign visitors has also been reduced. While it was 40 in 2004, now it is 37. Russian tourists are usually 35, the Germans – about 36 years of age.

Workers comprise the greatest part of the foreign tourists flow – 67.6%, students – 15.1%, pensioners – 5.3%.

Almost 70% of all visitors are holidaymakers, 13% come on business, 9% visit friends, 6% come for medical treatment.

This year the regular visitors to Bulgaria comprise 63%, and the first-time visitors – 37%. One out of four has visited the country for the fourth time.

About 30% of the tourists think that the information about Bulgaria is insufficient, while 17% find it sufficient.

The main means of transport is the airplane - it is used by 50% of the foreign visitors. Tourists from the Balkans prefer the car and those from Eastern Europe - the bus.

Most visitors stay at hotels; the rest abide in lodgings or their own homes. About 70% stay at 3- or 4-star hotels. Tourists' occupations are as follows: 68% - sunbathing, 33% - shopping, 33% -sightseeing, 28% - visiting cafes, night clubs and restaurants, 11.6% - business meetings.

In 2007 Russians and Eastern Europeans have been happier with their holidays in Bulgaria than Western Europeans have.

What foreign tourists like about Bulgaria is the food, the safety, the locals' friendliness and the hotel conditions. They don't like the intense construction activities, the noise, the bad language skills of the servicing personnel. More than 50% of the tourists are certain they will revisit Bulgaria; about 94% will recommend it to friends and relations back home.

Building & The City Weekly
5 - 11 November 2007

Three new airline companies to be established in Sofia

Three new airline companies will fly from Sofia Airport during the winter.

Two of them will serve passenger lines: EasyJet - with flights from London Gatwick to Sofia and backwards, and the Russian KD Avia with flights from Kaliningrad to Sofia and backwards on Monday, Friday and Sunday.

TNT Airways start cargo flights on the line Liege (Belgium) - Bucharest (Romania) - Sofia.

Bulgaria Air will open lines to Istanbul (Turkey), Belgrade (Serbia) and Skopije (Macedonia). This winter it will have daily flights from Sofia to Bourgas. It will also increase the number of flights to Moskow, Brussels and Varna.

Wizz Air starts flights from Sofia to Dortmund (Germany) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The top destinations from Sofia are to Vienna – 45 flights per week, to Athens – 30, to London – 29, to Frankfurt – 21 and to Munich – 21.

24 Hours Daily
5 November, 2007

Renovation of the seaside airports in Varna and Bourgas.
The second competitive tender under the fraport twin star airport management investment project has been announced

The concessionaire of Varna and Bourgas airports – Fraport Twin Star Airport Management Ltd. – has announced the second competitive tender under the company's investment project.

It involves the design, repair and reconstruction of the existing airport facilities and the construction of new electric facilities as part of the airport infrastructure in Varna and Bourgas.

The calculated value of the airport rehabilitation is ЕUR 6.5 million. The term of fulfillment is 12 months.

The airport concessionaire plans to purchase new mounted fire equipment and organize staff training courses next year, said Andreas Helfer, Executive Director of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management.

The two airports were added to the destinations of 19 new air carriers this past summer.

Budget carriers Germanwings, Wizz Air, Centralwings, Sky Europe and Norwegian Air Shuttle all fly to the two coastal airports. Bourgas processed 1.9 mln passengers in January – October period, while Varna traffic was at 1.5 mln.

Building & The City Weekly
5 – 11 November, 2007

Another country

The phrase "the past is another country" has become part of popular culture. For Steve Williams, who served in the UK embassy in Bulgaria for three years up to April 1987 and who has now returned as British ambassador, in some ways the Bulgaria of the present is another country.

Qualifying his remarks by saying that he has been back for only just more than two weeks, Williams says: "The changes are dramatic. If somebody had said to me when I left the country that I would be returning to a country that would be a fully-fledged partner of the UK's both in the European Union and in NATO, I would have found that simply inconceivable."

"I am looking at some visible changes like the gleaming new terminal at Sofia Airport, walking around the streets of Sofia – the vibrancy of commercial activity, the range of goods in shops and markets, the services that are available, the thriving cafe culture, the media that has undergone a striking change, with the vibrancy and dynamism of the print and broadcast media, and...the traffic!"

What has struck him, too, is what has not changed. "My wife and I have very happy memories from Bulgaria, even though in the 1980s for the country's people it was a very difficult time; the warmth and generosity of the people, the marvellous crafts and traditions, the delicious cuisine, and of course the beautiful and incredibly diverse countryside – happily, all of those things are unchanged."

Another significant change is that the former Bulgaria hosted few people from the UK, certainly a scant number of residents, and a tourist inflow scarcely comparable to today's figures. Apart from the large numbers of UK tourists, reported in the most recent figures to number nearly 500,000, and the fact that the UK is now the largest investor in Bulgaria, there is the well-known factor of UK investment in Bulgaria's property market.

"There are ever-increasing numbers of British nationals getting acquainted with Bulgaria and what it has to offer. It can only be described as a positive trend. My impression, and again I qualify this by saying that I've only been here a few weeks, is that those Britons who are settling here are integrating well. And most Bulgarians that I have spoken to characterize British investment in the property market as being beneficial to the economy."

And he adds: "The growth of English-language publications, including The Sofia Echo, is testimony to the burgeoning English-speaking community, which I welcome."

"I would say that the overall image of Bulgaria in the UK is a very positive one, and I would say that Bulgaria is now much better known than it was a few years ago in the UK. The reasons, as we have been discussing, is the number of British people coming here for holidays and owning property here; there is the small but growing Bulgarian community in the UK; well-known stars like Dimitar Berbatov; human interest cases such as the freeing of the Bulgarian nurses from Libya, which captivated interest in the UK. The fact that Bulgaria is now known to be a fellow-partner in the EU and NATO, all of these are strongly positive trends.

Overall, it is not a question any more of us helping Bulgaria, but Bulgaria and the UK working as partners on shared goals. Bulgaria has already brought considerable added value in its perspectives, in its expertise on issues like the Western Balkans, the Black Sea region, external energy security issues."

Williams' immediate priorities as the new UK ambassador are to get to know people and to build up his contacts and level of expertise on political, social and cultural matters, "obviously, too, to get to know the British community," and to brush up his Bulgarian.

Excerpt from the Sofia Echo
UK ambassador Steve Williams
2 November, 2007

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