For the period January-September this year, 7,903,692 foreigner tourists visited Bulgaria, or a 5.5% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI), said the press office of the Ministry of Tourism, reports Focus News Agency
From June to September, a total of 5,467,298 foreigners visited Bulgaria, or an increase of 3.1% compared to the summer last year.
The statistical data confirms our forecasts for growth in tourism. Our country is now internationally recognised as competitive all-year-round destination. September is now part of the high summer season and more and more tourists choose Bulgaria for their holiday, said Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova.
Inbound tourism for the nine months of 2018 is headed by Romania with 1,124,307 visits, or 27.5% increase year-over-year. The second position is occupied by Greece with 852,277 visits, followed by Germany with 790,972 visits.
From January to September, significant growth was registered in most of the top 50 inbound markets. Visitors from UK increased by 15.9%, from Ukraine – by 26.2%, from Israel – by 22.4%, from the United States – by 12.2%, and from Spain and Finland – by 17.6% and 16.8%, respectively.
