SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 17 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's revenue from foreign tourist arrivals rose by an annual 9.7% to 1.3 billion euro ($1.5 billion) in the first six months of 2018, the tourism ministry said on Friday, quoting data from the central bank.

In June alone, Bulgaria's revenue from foreign tourist arrivals increased by 8.1% year-on-year to 490 million euro, the tourism ministry said in a statement.

Some 3.6 million foreign tourists visited Bulgaria in the first half of 2018, up 8.9% compared to the same period of last year.