Foreign Trips to Bulgaria Up 2.4% in Nov 2011 Y/Y

In November, the largest increase in trips to Bulgaria from abroad was registered in the number of visitors who came on vacation - by 6.2%. File photo

In November 2011, the number of arrivals of foreign visitors to Bulgaria was 2.4% more than the number of these trips in the corresponding month of 2010.

The total number of foreign visits in November was 384 thousand, according to data of the National Statistics Institute, NSI, released Tuesday.

The largest increase was registered in the number of visitors with holiday and recreation purpose - by 6.2%.

In November 2011, the arrivals of visitors from EU Member States rose by 1.4% in comparison with the same month of 2010. The highest growth in the number of visits was observed from France and Italy – by 10.3% and 10.0% respectively. A decrease in the visits was registered from Lithuania - by 10.4%, Slovenia - by 5.5%, Malta - by 5.0%, etc.

Visits of foreigners from the group "Other European countries" increased by 1.3%. The largest growth in the number of arrivals of citizens was observed from Switzerland - by 18.0%, Ukraine – by 13.6%, and Russian Federation - by 9.8%.

In November 2011, visitors passing transit had the greatest share of the total number of foreigners who visited Bulgaria - 34.9%, followed by arrivals with holiday and recreation purpose - 33.2%, professional purpose - 17.1% and others - 14.8%.

In November 2011, the number of the trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 253.8 thousand, which was 1.1% more than the number of the trips in November 2010.

An increase in the total number of the trips was registered to: Luxembourg - by 9.1%, Slovenia - by 6.8%, Finland - by 4.5%, Cyprus – by 4.5%, Germany - by 4.3, Spain - by 4.2%, Hungary - by 3.3%, Greece - by 3.2%, and etc.

At the same time a decrease was observed to: Canada - by 29.5%, USA - by 29.0%, Portugal - by 28.7%, Lithuania – by 15.8/%, Switzerland - by 15.5%, Russian Federation - by 14.7%, and etc.

The highest share of the trips of Bulgarian citizens travelling abroad was of those with professional purpose - 49.6%, followed by other purposes (as guest, education, visiting cultural and sport events etc.) - 27.5% and with holiday and recreation - 22.9%.

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