Burgas is preparing for one of the largest international events to be held in Bulgaria. After the news that the seaside city will host “Eurovision“ next year, euphoria has already taken over the city, and the local tourism business expects a serious effect on the season. Thousands of fans, tourists, delegations and media representatives are expected to arrive on the Southern Black Sea coast in 2027. This poses challenges not only for accommodation, but also for transport, parking and overall city logistics.
“We are very grateful that we have the opportunity to represent Bulgaria, and at the same time we are aware of the responsibility, because we have a very serious organization ahead“. This was stated in “Hello, Bulgaria” on Nova TV, the Deputy Mayor for Culture of the Municipality of Burgas Diana Savateva.
According to her, the preparation begins with working meetings with all partners, since the event will not be limited to the “Arena Burgas“, but will be in the entire city. The municipality plans to turn “Eurovision” into an event that will give Burgas the opportunity to present not only itself, but also the region and Bulgaria to the international audience. It is expected that there will be activities in different places in the city - around the “Arena Burgas“, in the renovated “Mladost” hall, along the coast, around the Sea Station, as well as on “Troykata“ Square and “St. St. Cyril and Methodius“.
„There will be no corner in the city, including outdoor and indoor locations, that will not feel the spirit of “Eurovision“, said Savateva.
Special attention will also be paid to local creative organizations. According to the deputy mayor, the municipality has already received over 100 letters from creative structures that have expressed their willingness to participate with their activities during the event.
The tourism business also expects “Eurovision“ to give an earlier start to the season. “Our industry will gladly support any initiative that would extend the season and that would advertise Bulgaria as a whole“, said the manager of a hotel chain in Sunny Beach, Alexander Alexandrov.
However, according to him, the offers that have appeared on the Internet for over 20,000 euros for an apartment for a week do not correspond to the real market levels. “For me, these are not realistic prices”, he commented. And he emphasized that the large hotels in Sunny Beach have not increased their prices specifically because of “Eurovision”. “There is no increase, there is no such speculation”, Alexandrov is categorical.
The situation is similar in Burgas. Bilyana Nedelcheva, manager of a large hotel in the city center, announced that the interest in accommodation is already significant. “I would say that we are already forming waiting lists with reservations for the “Eurovision“ period,“ she said.
Hoteliers expect an increase in occupancy, including due to the need to accommodate teams that will arrive earlier than the show itself. “We already have inquiries for team accommodation. There is talk of the period from April 23-24 with a duration of about a month, but in fact this is based on preliminary data,“ explained Nedelcheva.
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She also described the offers of over 20,000 euros per week as unrealistic, but emphasized that ultimately the market will show whether such prices will be accepted by customers, how objective they are, how much they are in demand and "how much these rooms will be booked".
According to hoteliers, it is normal for major international events to have some price increases due to higher demand, but excessive increases may prove ineffective.