The winter season, with few exceptions, is already considered over, but there is no rest for the tourism industry because Easter is coming. In the southwest, cities and resorts are competing to attract foreign tourists. Sandanski is expected and logically the favorite to welcome the Greeks, reports Nova TV.
Georgi Mitrev, who is the manager of a hotel in the city, says that his guests are mainly Bulgarians - nearly 90 percent, but there are also tourists from Greece, RS Macedonia and groups arriving from Western Europe.
The Greeks are a special category. Their presence in Sandanski is constant.
"It is definitely felt that after we entered Schengen and by land, the Greeks moved around so much, we know that they had stopped a lot during the pandemic, but then they started, and now, since we have been in Schengen, we are increasingly meeting tourists from Greece", explains Mitrev.
But traders are noticing a trend - the Greeks often come just for a walk. Mass shopping, where people buy a lot of everything, is already a thing of the past.
"Given the mineral water, the healing air, the good service in the hotels, the shopping, the religious tourism and last but not least, in connection with the Resurrection and Easter holidays, Sandanski is a very attractive, appealing and preferred city for its numerous guests," revealed Mayor Atanas Stoyanov.
Recently, however, another city has increasingly begun to divert the tourist flow coming from north to south along the "Struma". With healing mineral water, an attractive urban environment, an accessible forest park and tranquility, Kyustendil is experiencing a continuous increase in visitors.
"The hotel is full for the Easter holidays, we sold the last room for Easter two months ago. Here we include the healing mineral water, which Kyustendil was famous for in the past. It springs at 73 degrees and is extremely rich in sulfur. This water is extremely beneficial for problems with the musculoskeletal system, as well as reproductive problems in couples," shared marketing director Desislava Petrova.
The result - foreign tourists are increasingly packing their bags for Kyustendil.
"From North Macedonia, we have many Greeks too, people from Austria, Norway, Israel of course, from the States we often have people who stay with us, even last year there was a large group that stayed with us for a week, apart from that quite a few German citizens," commented Petrova.
There are also of course Romanians. But their Bulgarian adventure around Easter is expected to be mostly in Bansko.