Hotels in Bulgaria increased profitability

Hotels in Bulgaria increased profitability

Hotel market in Bulgaria is experiencing an ambiguous period. It is confirmed by the data published by the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria.

In the first place, as in any business, is profitability. In the first quarter of 2011 hotels in Bulgaria managed to reach minimum growth. According to the Institute of Statistics, income from hotel activity in the country increased by 1.9%. While income from foreigners, who stayed in Bulgarian hotels fell by 1.6%.
According to the first quarter of 2011 the number of accommodation, including Bulgarian hotels, chalets, campgrounds, motels and apartments increased by almost 2% over the same period in 2010.

It may seem as encouraging trend. However, the following figures blur the rosy picture. Thus, at the background of increasing number of hotels is marked decrease in the total room stock. In comparison with the first quarter of 2010, the number of rooms decreased by 5.1% and the number of beds has decreased by 6.8%.

Currently, Bulgaria has in total 2,041 objects of tourist accommodation with more than 10 rooms.

At the same time, tourism in Bulgaria is in good condition. Thus, the main indicator of the hotel industry - the number of overnight stays - grew in Bulgaria and, according to the latest data, was amounted to 1558 600 overnight stays, which is by 4.3% more than during the first three months of 2010. In this case, a significant proportion of this growth formed Bulgarians, who have spent at their hotels by 9% more overnight stays.

Among the foreigners, who chose to holiday in Bulgaria, the largest increase in the number of overnight stays demonstrate citizens of Iceland (313.4%) and South Korea (145.6%). Among the countries that decreased its presence are Portugal (by 52%) and Denmark (by 43%). The vast majority of foreigners preferred to stay in Bulgarian hotels. Only 1.2% of foreigners chose other types of accommodation.

According to the Committee of Statistics, the total number of arrivals in the tourist accommodation facilities in Bulgaria rose by 3.8% up to 680,000.

Anyway, Bulgaria plans that the current summer season will be one of the best in the country's recent history. Tourism authorities hope to increase the flow of tourists from Eastern Europe, and primarily from Russia.

Ilya Kalachev

Date: 23/05/2011