Trips of Bulgarian residents abroad and arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria in August 2012
In August 2012 the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 412.9 thousand or by 2.1% more than in July 2012 and by 3.8% above the registered in August 2011. An increase in the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents compared to the same month of the previous year was reported to: Italy - by 145.2%, Austria - by 131.4%, Spain - by 72.3%, the United Kingdom - by 58.6%, Germany - 45.6%, etc. Meanwhile, a decrease in the trips to the following countries was observed: Greece – by 32.5%, Serbia - by 8.0% and Turkey - by 7.6%.
The trips with other purposes (as guest, for education and to attend cultural and sport events) composed the greatest share of the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad - 43.6%, followed by the trips with holiday and recreation purposes - 38.8% and with professional purpose - 17.6%. In comparison with August 2011 an increase was observed in the trips with holiday and recreation purpose, as well as in those with other purposes – they rose by 48.4% and 30.2% respectively, while a decrease in the trips with professional purposes was registered - by 52.1%.
In August 2012 the trips with other purposes formed 67.6% of all trips to Serbia, 50.4% - to Germany, 44.8% - to Greece. The predominant share of the trips to Turkey and France was with holiday and recreation purpose - 49.7 and 49.4% respectively, while to Belgium and Russia they were connected with professional purpose - 47.4 and 41.0% respectively of all trips of Bulgarian residents to these countries.
In August 2012, the number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria was 1 637.8 thousand which was by 2.7% less compared to July 2012 and by 3.3% above the level from August 2011. An increase in the visits for all observed purposes was registered, as the greatest was the growth in the visits with professional purpose - by 22.0%, followed by these with other purposes - by 3.4%, and with holiday and recreation purpose - by 2.0%.