Summer `24 was significantly better than Summer `23 reports from the municipality of Pomorie . However, the levels of the number of tourists from the pre-pandemic year 2019 have not yet been reached.
The season this year was saved by the Bulgarian visitors, who are 60% of all who visited our Black Sea city during the summer season. The share of foreign tourists dropped by nearly 40%. The municipality reports the clear loss of key markets such as those of Russia and Ukraine.
The main reason for the decline in tourism is the closure of large hotel complexes in 2022, this has led to a significant reduction in accommodation, and therefore income. Tourist tax revenues have decreased by nearly 28%. The reason is that tourists stay for a maximum of 5 nights. “It is necessary to adapt to the new market conditions in order to achieve stability and growth of the sector”, believes the mayor of Pomorie Ivan Alexiev.
The tourist tax increase should be according to the stars of the accommodation places. "The tax has not been indexed since 2015. Currently, comparing the Municipality of Pomorie with other Black Sea municipalities, the amount of tourist tax is the lowest, despite the high average prices of accommodation in the municipality. The tourist tax is not paid by the hotelier, but by the tourists," Alexiev explained.