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Sofia/London. The budget of Bulgaria's State Agency for Tourism will double next year, the agency told FOCUS News Agency. Mario Al-Jebouri, chairman of the agency, took part in the tourist exhibition World Travel Market (WTM) in London. He presented Bulgaria as a tourist destination to English and Bulgarian media representatives.
“Tourism generates 12.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country and 9% from international tourism”, Mario Al-Jebouri said. The total of 170,000 Bulgarians are directly employed in the sector of tourism. The tourist sector together with the sectors accompanying it employs more than 300,000 people.
“Bulgaria is a beautiful country with a 13th-century long history and many cultural sites including two parks that have been put on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites”, Mario Al-Jebouri said.

Bulgaria has banked over EUR 1.557 B from foreign holidaymakers in the first nine months of 2006, the deputy head of the State Tourism Agency reported.
Compared to the same period in 2005, the number of foreign tourists coming to Bulgaria has gone up by 5.39% and the revenues have increased by 5.45%.
Still, Bulgaria's development pace is lagging behind that of dynamic markets like those of Ireland, Norway and the UK, Stanislav Novakov added as quoted by Investor.bg.

During the new winter season in Bansko ski area there will be two brand new four-seat lifts at guests’s disposal. One of them connects “Banderishka polyana” place with the last fall of “Todorka” ski run which will facilitate at maximum the ski- and snowboard beginners. The second one begins from the “Zhelezen most” place and reaches the “Platoto” area.

Berkovitsa municipality and Glavbolgarstroy would work on a new sports and tourism centre in Berkovitsa and under Kom peak in Stara Planina Mountain.

The centre should be completed by 2016, Darik Radio said.

Berkovitsa municipality will participate in the project providing 75 000 sq m of land. Glavbolgarstroy will invest funds and will possess 51 per cent of the project.

The dream customers of every hotel owner in the world — Japanese tourists — are flocking to Veliko Turnovo.

This finding was made at the second anniversary of the National Association of Spa and Wellness Tourism (NSAWT) held in Veliko Turnovo this week. Addressing participants in the event, Veliko Turnovo mayor Roumen Rashev said: “In the past several months, our city has been enjoying a real invasion of Japanese tourists”.

One of the reasons for that influx might be the immense popularity of Bulgaria’s Kaloyan Mahlyanov, known as Kotooshu in Japan. Mahlyanov is one of the top sumo wrestling stars in Japan, where he is a beloved star of the sport. “Japanese tourists want to see the motherland of Kotooshu and Veliko Turnovo has become their top destination in Bulgaria,” Rashev said. “Next in line were British and US tourists who usually visit Veliko Turnovo as part of their European tours.”

In addition, Rashev forecasted a 30 per cent increase in the number of tourists visiting the city by the end of the year. In the first nine months of 2006, the number of tourists had increased with 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2005, he said. Veliko Turnovo has developed into one of the leading destinations for foreign tourists for a few simple reasons. First, the city is one of the medieval centres of Bulgaria, featuring the magnificent and outstanding Tsarevets fortress complex.

Bulgaria will take part in an International Tourism Fair opening Monday in London, RIA Novosti reported.

This is the 27th edition of the fair and it will go on until November 9. It is expected that it will be the biggest event in world tourism business.

Over 5,000 participants from about 200 countries will attend the forum.

Bulgaria will deliver a special presentation followed by Sri Lanka, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and a number of other countries

Bookings for New Year at Bulgaria's best winter resorts are already unavailable, local tour operators informed.

There is no bedspace vacant in Bansko, Pamporovo, Borovets, Hissar or Sandanski two months ahead of Christmas, they said as quoted by Standard Daily.

It seems the spa pearl of Bulgaria Sandanski will speak out Greek on New Year Eve, as the majority of bookings have been made by citizens of the southern neighbour, reports said.

Unlikely, many Bulgarians will prefer to leave for an exotic destination, such as Tunisia and Egypt, to chin-chin their first EU-membership year, the newspaper pointed out.

More than 4.2 million foreign tourists have visited Bulgaria by September 2006, a Council of Ministers press release said.

The figure represents an increase of 5.39 per cent, compared to the foreign tourist visits for the same period in 2005.

Income from international tourism is also on the rise. The increase is five per cent and the total sum reached 1 557.2 million euro.

Tourists from the UK, Germany, France, Australia, the US and Japan visited Bulgaria.

The number of Japanese tourists interested in visiting the birth place of Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kaloyan Mahlianov Kotooshu is going up.

Nearly 30 per cent more foreign tourists are expected to visit his birth city of Veliko Turnovo in 2006 as compared to figures for 2005, Veliko Turnovo mayor Roumen Rashev said.

Kotooshu was rather popular in Japan and this is what caused the steady growth in the number of Japanese visits Veliko Turnovo, Rashev said as quoted by BGNES Sport agency.

The number of American tourists has also increased, said Rashev.

The chairman of the State Agency of Tourism Mario Al-Djabouri visits Varna as Tourism and Leisure Fair opens. His schedule included an official lunch with representatives of tourist branch organizations and local media. According to the State Agency of Tourism the number of tourists has risen. That is why FOCUS Radio-Varnaasked Mario Al-Djabouri about his opinion on these positive statistics.

FOCUS: The data you have given point to an increase in the number of tourists who have visited Bulgaria during this year’s summer season as compared to previous years. However local hotel managers have the opposite opinion – each year the season is weaker than the previous one. What is your comment?

Mario Al-Djabouri: It seems we will never admit we have a successful season! The trend is positive – it has been for the last few years. There is indeed an increase in the number of tourists. The data cannot be manipulated. These are figures from the Border Police and other services, statistics that are provided to the Agency. Hotel managers complaining of small number of visits should think of the reasons. At the same time other hotels had reregistration of tourists. The reasons could be the service quality and its price. There is a general tendency of increase in the number of tourists.

FOCUS: What are in your opinion the reasons for the increase in the number of tourists and for the positive statistics?