30/11/2012

International Open Seminar, VUZF University

Andrea KaiserGeneral Manager Park Inn by Radisson Sofia

Impact of the Tourism Industry – the global picture

The Bulgarian Context

The Competitive set

• Bulgarian Tourism Today

• The Bulgarian Tourism Future

Q & A

„Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines

tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one

consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".” (Wikipedia)

Source: UNWTO

Weekly District News / 27.02.2012Source: UNWTO

Direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP

Source: World Travel and Tourism Council

2011 = 1,972.8 Bn 2.8% of GDP2012 = 2,028.2 Bn (+2.8%)2022 = 3,056.2 Bn (+4.2%) 3.0% of GDP

Total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP

Source: World Travel and Tourism Council

2011 = 6,346.1 Bn 9.1% of GDP2012 = 6,526.9 Bn (+ 2.8%) 9.2% of GDP2022 = 9,939.5 Bn (+ 4.3% pa) 9.8% of GDP

Estimates and Forecasts

The Bulgarian Context

Source: World Travel and Tourism Council

Source: World Travel and Tourism Council

Source: Eurostat

Bed capacities in Thousand bedsBed capacities in Thousand beds

Austria 201134.6 Mio arrivals126 Mio overnights

The Bulgarian Tourism Today

• Profiting from the fact that is boasts 370 km of black sea coast

• sea side tourism is established in various feeder markets

• some ski resorts are well developed already and known in certain feeder markets (e.g. UK)

• 5 Mio visitors in 2011, 18.295 Mio overnights (National Inst. For Statistic)

• 33.76% of nights are spent in Burgas area, 26.2 % in Varna, 6.46% Dobrich, 7.84% Sofia

• top feeder markets Germany, Russia, Romania

• few international hotel operators on the market

• Image of cheap destination

• limited flight connections, not only for the black sea coast

• define a responsible organization / institution to take care of strategic development and marketing

• Develop the country as an attractive year round destination, find niche products

• Build / establish a brand and reputable image

• Sustainable development (quality instead of pure quantity)

• improve the infrastructure

• guarantee accessibility all year round

• improve education / professional training methods for tourism

• involve the market players

Q & A