Bulgarians Shift Preferences To Spa Resorts

Middle-aged Bulgarians have embraced the philosophy of healthy living and recreation, increasingly opting for spa-resort vacations, according to the monthly survey of the tourist website travel.bg.

The quality and variety of offered spa services, not prices, are the key decision-making factors for Bulgarians choosing a hotel, according to the research.

The price of 100 leva a day, charged for an overnight stay in a four-star hotel with spa procedures included, is considered a reasonable tourist package offer.

Sandanski was March’s most popular destination among Bulgarian vacationers, according to the website’s statistics. A five-day holiday in Sandanski, including two meals a day and spa procedures, can be booked for 500 leva.

Offers for Hissarya rank second in terms of tourist interest.

The latest trend among tourists is the increasing popularity of the so-called eco-destination holiday. Arbanassi, Ribaritsa, Troyan and Dryanovo enjoyed the greatest interest in March, with Arbanassi topping the chart.

Still, Bulgarian tourists prefer to spend the Easter holidays abroad, mostly in Greece and Turkey. Most tour-operator offers are for the towns of Katerini, Kavala, Thessaloniki, the islands of Thassos, Rhodes, Crete and Cyprus, and the Halkidiki peninsula. Prices range from 120 to 400 leva, depending on the vacation’s duration (usually two or three nights), the number of meals included and the hotel’s star rating. There are more exotic and pricier Easter holiday offers for getaways in Egypt, Tunisia and Spain.

There were 4.515 million journeys abroad registered in Bulgaria in 2007, an eight per cent increase on  2006. Turkey was the most popular destination in 2007, although it registered a slight (1.1 per cent) decrease in Bulgarian visits compared to the previous year. Greece ranked second, with visits marking a  30.4-per cent increase in 2007, compared to 2006, which can be attributed to Bulgaria's EU accession. Trips to Macedonia have posted a 23-per cent increase on 2006.

There was also an interest in far-off exotic destinations, such as Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, China and Dubai, according to travel.bg.propertywisebulgaria.com