Global Financial Crisis to Reduce Loans for New Tourist Sites in Bulgaria

Limitation of loans for the construction of new hotel complexes is expected because of the global financial crisis, State Agency for Tourism Chairperson Anelia Kroushkova told a news conference Monday, BTA reported. The trends in the world will not pass us by, she added. Bulgaria could benefit from the crisis if it becomes known as a destination of acceptable prices and good quality of service, аccording to Blagoi Ragin, Chairman of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association.Kroushkova quoted preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute, according to which there is a 15 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of tourists who visited Bulgaria in January-August. Their number totaled 4.332 million.In January-July revenue from international tourism in the current balance of payments marked a 12.1-percent growth and reached 1,500 million euro. The costs of Bulgarians for traveling abroad over the same period also increased by 25.3% and totaled 911.1 million euros.In January-August 2008 Bulgaria was visited by 3.177 million EU citizens, or a 15.8-percent increase year-on-year. The share of EU tourists in the total number of visitors stands at 73.3%.Bulgarians made a total of 3.956 million trips abroad in the period between January and August 2008. The relative share of visits of Bulgarians to EU countries stood at 61.4%, with statistics reporting a 71.1% increase of these trips.