Bulgaria has geared up to promote its diverse portfolio of tourism products in the Indian market. It receives seven mn inbound tourists every year, a number almost equal to its population. Stefan Ionkov, Head of Commercial & Economic Department and Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in India, plans to position the country as a value for money destination. “The average room rate of a 5 star hotel in Sophia is EURO 100 per night. We have a variety of hotels and prices can go down to EURO 40-50 for 3 and 4-star hotels. Moreover, restaurant rates are also 1/5th of that in Central European countries,” he revealed. However, there is a lack of awareness in the Indian market which keeps Bulgaria a little away from India, he said.
To increase awareness, Bulgaria Tourism has initiated a lot of promotional initiatives. “We recently organised a roadshow in Mumbai and made presentation on Bulgarian tourism products before Mumbai’s travel trade fraternity. Our plan is to participate in main travel marts of India to connect Bulgarian travel trade to Indian travel fraternity. Furthermore, we intend to have segment wise workshops in the embassy in New Delhi and organise a familiarisation trip for Indian tour operators and the media,” he said, and hoped that these initiatives will boost Indian numbers to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria Tourism planning to tap the growing MICE and honeymoon segments. “We are looking to project Bulgaria as a complete MICE destination. We have good convention centres supported by good room inventory. We are also looking at honeymoon segment,” he added. Currently, only 3,000 Indians visit Bulgaria in a year. “We receive 68 per cent of our inbound tourists from Europe. The main source markets are UK, Germany and Russia. In 2012, we witnessed a substantial increase in inbound arrivals. We have 47.7 per cent increase from Turkey, 43.9 per cent from Ukraine and 30.7 per cent from Russia,” he revealed.
Although there is no direct air connectivity between India and Bulgaria, Ionkov does not see this as deterrent. “One can fly from Delhi and Mumbai to Istanbul and Bulgaria is just one hour drive from the Istanbul airport. Another option is Vienna. Qatar also gives good connection via Doha. Aeroflot is also connecting Moscow with Sophia. Hence, air connectivity is not a problem,” he opined.
“We are promoting spa, summer holidays, golf tourism, nightlife, natural wonders and some of the unique destinations such as Hissarya, Devin, Pomorie and Sofia in the Indian market,” Ionkov said. According to him, the main USPs of Bulgaria is its spa industry. “We are the number one destination in Europe for our diversity of mineral springs. We have 600 mineral deposits with over 1,600 mineral springs which are utilised in modern spas, hotels and resorts to offer different spa treatments. These springs have healing properties,” he said.
Bulgaria also offers tourists to buy vacation property. From the Asian countries, Bulgaria receives tourists mainly from China and Japan.
