Geography of Tourism in Bulgaria

Abstract

Bulgaria is one of the most developed tourist regions in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2014, Bulgaria was visited by nearly 9.5 million foreign tourists, over 2 million more than the number of inhabitants. Bulgaria is situated in southeast Europe in a remote corner of the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Black Sea. Despite the small area (110,000 km2), the country is distinguished by a great diversity of landscape, which represents potential for tourism development practically all year round. The most important role in tourism in Bulgaria is played by the coastal landscape. Regarding that, Bulgarian Black Sea Coast resembles the Mediterranean coast. There are also diverse mountain ranges in Bulgaria—the Rila, Pirin, and Rhodope—which are the highest mountains of the alpine landscape. Bulgaria is also a culturally attractive tourist region. Location of Bulgaria in southern Europe at the crossroads of Eastern and Western culture gave it a strong multicultural dimension visible today in the architecture, customs, religion, and even the cuisine of this country. Based on the natural and cultural assets, the development of several major forms of tourism can be considered in Bulgaria. The most developed are coastal and mountain tourism (winter and hiking) accompanied by health and spa tourism, which have the longest tradition. Since the times of political changes in the nineties of the last century, agrotourism and various forms of cultural tourism (e.g., religious tourism, wine tourism, and urban tourism) have become popular in Bulgaria.