23 Israel-Bulgaria Charter Flights Cancelled after Terror Act

In the aftermath of the terror act in Burgas, Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister, Delyan Dobrev, remains upbeat about the tourist sector. Photo by BGNES

A total of twenty three charter flights from Israel have been cancelled after the terror attack in the Black Sea city of Burgas, Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister, Delyan Dobrev, informs.

According to the Minister, the cancellations involve 3 000 tourists, which is not that many considering the total number of tourists, but Bulgaria must apply all possible effort to keep these cancellations to a minimum.

Speaking Wednesday in an interview for Nova TV, Dobrev said he did not expect any problems in the tourist sector in 2013.

He explained that the Tourism Act has been submitted in the Parliament last week, and does not include amendments pertaining to terrorist attacks and threats.

"There is no way such texts can enter the legislation. What we can do is to work harder in the tourist sector to prevent further exodus. The good news is that such exodus, for the time being, is connected only to Israel, and that they have been replaced by visitors from other countries," Dobrev explained.

The Minister informed that 138 000 Israeli tourists visited Bulgaria in 2011 which was 6% of all 8.5 million tourists.

"In 2012, we expected an increase of 10% of visitors from Israel. It is too early to say if these expectations will materialize," said he.

The July 18 terrorist attack in Bulgaria's Burgas, also known as the Burgas Bus Bombing, killed 5 Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver at the Sarafovo Airport. The main lead is that it has been executed by a suicide bomber, who arrived from abroad.

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