Trips of Bulgarians Abroad Inch Up 3.8% in June 2011

Trips of Bulgarians abroad came in at 328.8 thousand in June 2011, registering a 3.8% increase on the year, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.

An upward trend was registered in the trips to the following destinations: Hungary - by 36.2%, Romania - by 26.1%, Ireland - by 22.1%, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) - by 20.1%, Austria - by 19.5%, Israel - by 18.4%, Belgium - by 7.3%, United Kingdom - by 6.6%, Germany - by 6.4%, Slovenia - by 6.1%, Turkey - by 5.9%, France - by 5.2%, and etc.

At the same time, Bulgarians were shown to have traveled less to the following destinations: Canada - by 87.4%, Denmark - by 51.4%, Norway - by 36.4%, Luxembourg - by 35.9%, Slovakia - by 33.3%, Estonia - by 25.5%, Poland - by 25.4%, Ukraine - by 25.1%, and etc.

Business trips had the highest share of all, 40.9%, followed by trips for other purposes - 35.9% and trips for holiday/recreational purposes - 23.2%.

In June 2011, the number of arrivals of foreign visitors to Bulgaria stood at 1 058.8 thousand, registering a 9.1% increase on the year.

The biggest increases were registered in the number of visitors passing through the country in transit and in visits for other purposes by 12.1 and 10.1% respectively.

In June 2011, arrivals of visitors from EU Member States increased by 3.6% compared to the same month in 2010, with the biggest upward revisions observed in arrivals from Greece and Spain - by 16.8 and 13.7% respectively.

At the same time visits from Finland fell by 14.6%, visits from Malta dropped by 14.4%, and visits from Hungary decreased by 13.8%.

Visits of foreigners from "other European countries" went up by17.1%, with the biggest spikes observable in arrivals from Ukraine - by 46.5%, Serbia - by 33.4% and the Russian Federation - by 24.2%.

In June 2011, arrivals for holiday/recreational purposes occupied the biggest share of all foreigners' visits to Bulgaria - 59.3%, followed by visitors passing in transit - 23.1%, business visits - 9.7% and others - 7.9%.