Bulgaria Records 19% Increase in Russian Tourists


Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Milen Keremedchiev, announced on Monday that 100 000 Russians have been given tourist visas since the beginning of 2009.
Keremedchiev praised the Foreign Affairs Ministry and tour operators for increasing the number of Russian tourists who want to spend their holidays in Bulgaria, Darik Radio reported.
At 10 am on Monday the 100 000th visa was issued to a Russian tourist. This is an increase of 19% for the first 6 months of 2009 year on year. If the trend continues, we could see up to 300 000 Russian visas being granted in 2009.
Kremedchiev concluded by stating that the Ministry had not received one complaint from tour operators or Russian citizens regarding the speed at which visa applications were dealt with.