Bulgaria Passes 7 Million Tourist Visits as Officials Push Culture and a New "Discover Your Bulgaria" Portal

Written 12 October 2026. Original news dates: 7 October 2026 (visit figures) and 9 October 2026 (portal).

Bulgaria has recorded more than 7 million tourist visits in the first nine months of 2026, and the country's tourism officials used a major culture fair in Veliko Tarnovo this week to set out where they want the industry to go next: year-round travel, better quality, and a single online guide to everything a visitor might want to see. Here is what was said, what the numbers show, and what they may mean for travellers and local businesses.

What happened

On 7 October 2026, Deputy Tourism Minister Mariela Modeva spoke at the opening of the 21st Cultural Tourism International Fair in Veliko Tarnovo. The fair ran until 9 October. It was organised by Veliko Tarnovo Municipality and the Ministry of Tourism, with support from the Ministry of Culture as part of the Annual Programme for National Tourism Advertising. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported her remarks, and the Ghana News Agency republished the report with a BTA credit.

According to that report, more than 7 million tourists visited Bulgaria between January and September 2026. Between May and September, 5.7 million tourists came, of whom more than 3.5 million were foreign visitors. The report did not give revenue figures, and it did not break the foreign visits down by country.

Two days later, on 9 October, BTA reported that Bulgaria is developing a unified tourism information portal called "Discover Your Bulgaria". It was presented on Friday at a meeting of tourist information centres during the same exhibition in Veliko Tarnovo. Although BTA's headline said the platform "launches", the article describes it as still in development and does not name the body responsible or give a launch date.

The numbers behind the headline

The visit figures are the easiest part of the story to repeat, so it is worth being clear about what they say. The seven-million figure covers nine months. The May–September figure, 5.7 million, therefore accounts for most of it, which shows how strongly the Bulgarian tourism year still depends on the warm months. If 5.7 million of the more than 7 million visits fall in those five months, then January to April together account for roughly 1.3 million or slightly more. That arithmetic is our own reading of the two published totals, not a figure supplied by officials, but it illustrates the officials' own point about seasonality.

Modeva also gave figures on culture. Museum visits exceeded 7.9 million. Bulgaria has about 40,000 immovable cultural heritage sites, which she said puts it third in Europe behind Italy and Greece. Visitor numbers to cultural and historical sites rose by about 1% across 21 municipalities.

An important caveat was stated in the report itself: Bulgaria has no separate statistics for cultural tourism. Officials measure it indirectly, through visits to cultural and historical sites, museums and municipalities with heritage concentrations. That means a 1% rise should be read as a rough indicator, not a precise measurement of cultural travellers.

What Europeans want

The deputy minister also quoted European demand figures. About 14% of European tourists travel for cultural and historical tourism, and a similar share are interested in city tours. About 4% are interested in wine and culinary tourism. Together, these three forms of travel account for about 32% of interest among European tourists.

These figures help explain the strategy. Bulgaria's coast competes for visitors mostly on price and sunshine for a few months. Culture, cities and food can be enjoyed in spring and autumn, and in winter. Officials hope that developing these products will spread visits through the year.

"Year-round" and moving beyond "cheap and seasonal"

Modeva said Bulgaria has the potential to become a year-round tourist destination. She described efforts to raise visitor numbers and improve the quality of the tourism product, and she said the goal is to move away from the country's image as a cheap, seasonal destination. According to the report, better connectivity and accessibility, new tourism products and more effective marketing in target markets are the keys to development.

This is a theme that has recurred in recent official statements, and it ties to the coast too. Other officials have been discussing a fund for air connectivity and promotion to extend the season, a topic covered in our companion article on the Black Sea.

"Discover Your Bulgaria": what the portal is meant to do

The planned portal is meant to help tourists find the country's attractions and events in one place. According to BTA, it will carry information on landmarks, festivals and events, ticket prices, transport, parking and accommodation. Content is planned in more than 30 languages, with real-time event updates and options for visitors to leave feedback.

For a visitor, the appeal is obvious. Bulgarian travel information is scattered across municipal sites, museum pages and booking platforms, and it is not always available in English. A single portal that reliably shows opening times, ticket prices and event dates would be useful, especially for smaller towns that have little online presence of their own. It is worth remembering, however, that BTA said nothing about when the portal will be fully available, who will run it, or how local information will be kept up to date. Until those details emerge, travellers should continue to check official museum and municipal pages directly.

Workforce: a quieter but important part of the story

The Veliko Tarnovo meeting also touched on the people who work in tourism. According to BTA, nearly 4,000 university students and 17,000 pupils were enrolled in tourism-related programmes in 2025/2026. Only 25% of tourism graduates work in their field, and 8.5% run their own tourism businesses.

These figures matter because better service is part of what officials mean by quality. If three in four graduates end up in other careers, hotels and restaurants may struggle to find trained staff, particularly outside the main resorts. The discussions at the exhibition also covered promoting lesser-known cultural heritage, local traditions and festivals, and strengthening tourism exchanges between Bulgaria and China.

Why it matters

For travellers, the practical message is that Bulgaria wants to be visited outside July and August, and is investing attention in culture, history and food. Cities, monasteries, museums and small heritage towns are likely to feature more in promotion, which could mean more events and clearer information.

For local businesses, the numbers show both an opportunity and a limit. Seven million visits in nine months is a strong result, but the strong dependence on the summer months means that businesses outside the peak season still face long quiet periods. Guesthouses, restaurants and guides in heritage towns may benefit if cultural travel grows, though the 1% rise in site visits suggests the growth is modest so far.

For the industry as a whole, the most useful next step would be better data: separate cultural tourism statistics, clear information about the new portal and a published plan for extending the season. Officials have named the goals, but the report gave no targets or deadlines.

What happens next

The portal is still in development, with no launch date given. The fair itself has ended. Further official statistics will show whether the 2026 total finishes above or below last year, though neither report we reviewed gave a year-on-year comparison. Readers should treat the 7 million figure as a nine-month total, not a full-year result.

Explore more

Planning a cultural trip? Browse places to stay and local businesses on RavdaBG.com, and read our guides to destinations across Bulgaria.