In Greece, a dinner for two with a bottle of wine costs 104 euros, while for Bulgaria the price is 75 euros. This was said in the program “This Sunday“ on bTV by Assoc. Prof. Rumen Draganov, director of the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism.
According to him, the highest level of destinations are Oslo, Geneva and Barcelona. “These are the most expensive destinations. Greece is in 19th place, and Bulgaria - in 4th. If we want to check the statistics of the British Post Office, which monitors how much a stay in different countries costs, there are 12 indicators there. Anyone can open them and see them. If they type “Post Office Travel Barometer“, they will find the entire ranking,“ he explained Draganov.
„The English do the math. When you are in a market, for example in Germany, and you look at travel ads, Greece is more expensive than Bulgaria everywhere, Turkey is cheaper than Bulgaria, and the cheapest are Tunisia and Egypt“, he commented.
According to him, if we have to compare Bulgaria and Greece, anyone can look at the national statistics and see that last year about 1.6 million Bulgarians traveled to Greece. Of these, about 400 thousand went to work. „And in Bulgaria we have 27 million trips. In the summer, which is the busiest season, there are about 5.7 million trips by sea“.
„There is no way we can say: „You see, Bulgarians travel en masse to Greece.“ Greece has a significant share in terms of trips abroad, but we can in no way "Let's say that Bulgarians are mainly heading there. I'm currently traveling around the whole country and it's full. The roads are full. I've been to several caves, the restaurants are almost everywhere full," Draganov pointed out.
According to him, the restaurants, hotels and guest houses that work well by the sea are distinguished by their hospitality. "Where things are going well, we have an average of over 68% repeat tourist rate."
„I know the names of the families and children of the people I go to. They also know me very well. In Primorsko, they know where I go and wherever I go, they know who I'm staying with. So a large part of the Bulgarians and the people who welcome them already know each other. And this is not only in the summer, but also for New Year and other holidays. They keep in touch, they know each other's birthdays, they even know the dog's birthday," he commented.
According to Draganov, those who cannot do this, both in Greece and in Bulgaria, are punished in one way - they have no tourists. There is no one to go to them.
„There are people who are with their first wife, then with a second, already in their seventh marriage, the second child from the third marriage runs the hotel. Such a person comes in front of the camera and says: „Nobody wants to work.“ And he cannot be photographed with either a tourist or an employee. There is no chef. I tell him: „Take the chef from last year.“ „ „I can't look at him.“ „Okay, take the one from the year before last.“ „I don't talk to him“, Draganov commented.
According to him, these people simply don't know how. „And this is not only in Bulgaria - it's the same all over the world. Whoever doesn't knows, has no place in tourism. And those who are hospitable and know how, we see them everywhere“.
„We have made a huge leap in terms of quality. It is already 2026. Many of the young people who went abroad after 2004-2008, graduated from prestigious schools, worked there, managed restaurants and hotels, have already returned to Bulgaria. We cannot teach them how to smile and how to serve customers. This is already a very high level“, he pointed out.
Draganov commented on the case in which Bulgarian tourists were attacked by waiters in Greece after a disputed bill.
„I am looking into this case and I imagine that it is about English tourists. They will immediately contact the organizer of the trip, if it is theirs, or their lawyers in the UK. The lawyer will file a lawsuit based on the evidence, and the court will assess who bears what responsibility for what happened“, he pointed out.
“The English, for what we see, will not agree to compensation of less than 10 thousand euros. So this is a serious damage - drowsiness, loss of working capacity. Usually the English say: “I went to rest, and now I can't work for a whole year. You have to pay me compensation“, Draganov explained.
According to him, our compatriots should do what is done all over the world. “And Bulgarians, like everyone else, should understand that every dispute is resolved in court. It is not resolved by fighting on the spot, it is not resolved by phone calls and it is not resolved by videos on Facebook. It is resolved in court and with a court decision that has entered into force“.
“The court requires documentation – the clips they have, witnesses, camera recordings, names, an exact description of what happened. When it comes to something in Bulgaria, they require the recordings from the cameras in the relevant establishment, the names of the employees, they check whether the people who work there are appointed in the correct order, who the owners are and who the managers are“, Draganov pointed out.
According to him, the injured tourists should contact a lawyer, claim compensation, indicate the damages they suffered, present the evidence they have, and appear before the relevant court on whose territory the establishment is located. It is the court that is competent to decide what happened.