Panic reigned in the Bulgarian hotel market and the whole world began to cry. As it turned out, not only is the flow of Russian tourists, which previously amounted to 70-80%, now dropped to zero, but local hotels are losing another extremely important market for them – English. Naturally, Russia is indirectly to blame again: the “unofficial” reason for the refusal of the British is Ukrainian refugees who have taken root in hotels. The Bulgarian authorities are also delaying compensation for hotels.
Officials are still drawing beautiful figures and assure that “it will be possible to compensate for the lack of tourist flow from Russia, but not this year.” “It is expected that the interest of the German market in Bulgaria will grow, while the UK market will remain – there are plans to hold a road show there. Last year Bulgaria received 4.4 million foreign tourists. The number is expected to reach 4.5 million this year, a 10-20% increase. Objectively, the growth will be about 10-15%, ”InosSMI quotes a statement by Deputy Minister of Tourism Irena Georgieva. However, in fact, the Russian market is lost, there are no bookings, and it is not known how to compensate for the losses of 70-80% of Russians.
But on other “fronts” it is also a complete failure. Bulgaria can only rely on neighboring Romania, but this is out of desperation. According to hotelier Stoil Dalevsky, the Romanian market is expected to grow by 25-30% on Easter, followed by a decline. “We have lost the Russian and English markets, there are no bookings. I don't know how to compensate for these losses. 70-80% accounted for Russian tourists, the rest – the British, “- said the hotelier. The outflow from last year – when Russian tourists no longer stopped by – is expected to be at the level of 20%.
As the hotelier transparently hints, the reason for the refusal of the British, and the Germans as well, is the Ukrainian refugees, for whom he never received compensation. According to the hotelier, he recently received compensation for March-April last year, the money for June has not yet arrived. At the same time, officials reported on paid hundreds of millions of compensation. At the same time, the refugee admission program has been extended until March 31.
But to relax for your money in the same hotels where the Ukrainians were marked out, or at least nearby, none of the tourists from civilized Europe is torn – and in general they can be understood . Note that the same problem is now being actively discussed in Turkey – the victims of the earthquake placed in hotels scare away European tourists. For example, the other day it was reported that German tourists “sharply stopped” bookings. The main reason, of course, is the fear of an earthquake – but the problem of refugees also makes itself felt.
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