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Card acceptance network in Bulgaria's resorts examined

The survey, made public on September 14, showed that although it was not on their short term agenda, 35 per cent of those interviewed consider installing a point-of-sale (POS) terminal in their restaurant or shop in the future, two per cent plan to install it very soon, four per cent within a year, and 29 per cent in one or a couple of years.

The research, which took place in the middle of August this year, was designed to investigate the development of the card acceptance network at the Bulgarian seaside and the business challenges that owners and managers of medium and small restaurants and shops face.

Despite the fact that many of the owners in the research shared their plans to install POS terminal in their restaurants and shops, the reality is that, at the moment, 95 per cent of the researched merchant locations still do not offer POS to make payments by card.

The main reasons for still not accepting cards at their locations given by merchants include the lack of sufficient information about the potential benefits of non-cash payments; the time and effort installation of POS devices require; and the investment to be made to install POS.

“Visa considers these results as a good indication of what still needs to be done to develop a cashless payments society in Bulgaria. The survey shows that usage of cashless payments is strongly related to changing habits and spreading knowledge,” said Catalin Cretu, vice president for Romania and Bulgaria at Visa International CEMEA.

He added that Visa would use the results of the survey in its co-operation with local merchants and member banks to further develop the non-cash payment market in Bulgaria. “Developing the card infrastructure is important for the Bulgarian tourism industry and, therefore, for the Bulgarian economy,” said Cretu.

Another important result of the survey is that 44 per cent of the interviewed merchants recognise the advantages and benefits of having POS for their business. They recognise that non-cash payments provide great advantages and convenience for customers who are visiting their shops and restaurants.

A total of 50 per cent of all interviewed merchants consider the development of the card acceptance network especially beneficial for foreign tourists during their holiday in Bulgaria.

Additionally, 23 per cent of the interviewed merchants gave lack of card acceptance as the most important reason for discontent among foreign tourists during their visit to Bulgaria, such as the lack of modern conveniences such as ATMs and POS.

Other reasons given for tourists’ discontent are crime and sense of security (44 per cent), real estate development at the coastline (12 per cent) and the bad conditions of Bulgarian roads (eight per cent).

“Tourists visiting restaurants and shops in the coastal region, foreigners or Bulgarians, want to use their payment card to pay for their goods and services. Many foreign tourists are used to paying with their cards at merchant locations and the ability to use this method of payment while on holiday in Bulgaria will provide them with a feeling of security and convenience. All are reasons why the continuous development of the card acceptance network across Bulgaria is important,” said Cretu.

According to the merchants, in general, foreign tourists remain highly attracted by the Bulgarian sea coast mainly because of the low prices (57 per cent), beautiful nature (27 per cent) and good entertainment (15 per cent).

Other highlights of the survey show that 56 per cent of the owners of restaurants and shops say they do not have a payment card, while 44 per cent do.

The most frequent recommendations from the restaurants and shops owners for providing better service at the Bulgarian seaside refer to the improvement of municipal and state infrastructure as well as to the environment around the restaurants and the shops for which owners are responsible.

A big proportion of the interviewed owners are very sceptical regarding the fact that the number of foreign tourists in the country will increase after Bulgaria’s European Union accession. Forty-two per cent think that EU accession will not influence the number of foreign tourists coming to Bulgaria, while 33 per cent think that they are not quite sure how the country’s EU accession will affect in the number of visitors to Bulgaria. However, one in four owners of restaurants or shops (25 per cent) thinks that the number of foreign tourists in Bulgaria will increase.

About 75 per cent of those interviewed assessed the overall quality of the customer service in their restaurant or shop as very good, 20 per cent as good, four per cent as average and only one per cent have outlined that their merchant location needs improvement.

At the same time, when asked what, according to them, is the level of satisfaction of foreign tourists visiting Bulgarian sea resorts, the interviewed defined it as high (42 per cent) and very high (13 per cent). Thirty-eight per cent define it as moderate and seven per cent as low.