Foreign tourist arrivals to Bulgaria grow 3.1% y/y in Dec

Nationals from fellow EU member states accounted for 52.8% of all visits by foreign nationals last month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a regular report. Romania was Bulgaria's biggest EU feeder market, from where 38.2% of EU visitors originated, followed by Greece with 30.4%.

Visits to Bulgaria from other European countries came in at 314,600 in December, of which Turkey accounted for 51.5%.

Overall, Turkish nationals represented the largest group of foreign visitors to Bulgaria in the review month, or 162,000, followed by visitors from Romania, Greece, Ukraine, Serbia and Germany.

In December, holiday trips and business visits made up 29% and 13.7% of all international visitors' arrivals, respectively. Trips with a recreational purpose grew by an annual 6.6%, while business visits declined by 0.7%, the NSI said.