Bulgaria had a strong summer season 2013

Local media report says that continuing the trend of the recent years, the largest number of foreign tourists were Russians, with expectation of an increase of 30 to 35 % year-on-year.

Projections are that the number of tourists from the very beginning of the season to the end of October, would add up to 1.3 million people.

The number of German tourists had increased, to about 500 000. This number is the same as the estimated number of Bulgarians who chose to take their summer holidays outside Bulgaria, mainly in Greece and Turkey.

By the end of August, there was optimism about the final figures, with Bulgarian National Radio reporting expectations of a 4.5 per cent year-on-year increase, and with this optimism further brightened by long-range forecasts suggesting relatively good weather in September, October and November.

With the start of the school year in mid-September ending the summer holiday season for all except those taking advantage of late-season discounts, provisional projections of numbers were coming in suggesting that Bulgaria had enjoyed a stronger summer tourist season.