The first foreign tourists have arrived at Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, Tsvetan Tonchev, chairperson of the Bulgarian Tourism Chamber told Bulgaria Focus news agency on May 8 2009.
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The first tourists were from Germany, he said, and noted that their arrival coincided with the official opening of the 2009 summer season on the Black Sea on May 5 2009.
On that day the opening of the season was marked in the Black Sea cities of Varna, Bourgas and the largest Bulgarian sea resort Slantchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), he said.
“About 60 per cent of the beds that Bulgarian Black Sea hotels offer are full,” he noted. “Three, four and five star hotels that are close to the beach are almost fully occupied,” he said.
Tonchev said that the first wave of tourists numbered between 15 000 to 20 000 people and noted that he expected a drop in the number of visitors compared to the summer of 2008.
He also said that prices in Bulgaria and in Greece have basically levelled. “However, I hope that we will have more revenue this year from more affluent tourists willing to spend more,” he said.
He said that there was an increase in the number of tourists coming from Russia, Poland and Israel but a drop in the numbers of German tourists.
