Foreign tourist arrivals in Bulgaria down 14% y/y in November

A total of 433,200 foreigners visited Bulgaria in November, up by 4.1% as compared to the same month a year earlier, the National Statistics Office said in a press release on Monday.

As many as 48% of all foreigners who visited Bulgaria in November were visiting friends or relatives, or just transiting the country, 30% were tourists and 22% came on business. The number of people who visited the country on business trips in November was 35% higher than the previous year.

Citizens of EU member states accounted for 53% of all foreign arrivals last month, with arrivals from Italy and France rising by an annual 28% and 26%, respectively.

Arrivals from European non-EU member states last month increased by 4.5% compared to November 2013, largely due to a 12% increase in the number of visitors from Serbia.