The tourist season in Bulgaria in 2021 was successful and provoked a property sales growth

There are no complete statistics yet, but we can say with confidence that the tourist season of 2021 in Bulgaria has taken place. More than 2 million tourists have rested on the southern coast of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast alone, and their flow does not stop. The airports of Burgas, Varna, and Sofia serve dozens of flights from Russia, Germany and Poland every day. Many vacationers come by their own cars. Apart Estate agency has prepared a short summary about the peculiarities of the 2021 tourist season in Bulgaria and its impact on the real estate market.

Tourist season 2021

The Bulgarian government officially announced the start of the tourist season in the country from May 1, 2021. However, for a long time, issues related to the documents required to enter the country and prevent the spread of coronavirus were regulated and resolved. In fact, May was a disastrous month. Then rare tourists came to the sea from Romania and Poland, as well as from some Scandinavian countries. Romanian vacationers rented apartments in Varna, Nessebar just for weekends. The same trend was observed among local Bulgarian tourists. Hotels seemed to be in demand, but very few. As a result, many hoteliers and restaurant owners found it unnecessary to open up. Only 50-60% of hotel owners declared that they would reopen. 

June, unexpectedly cold, also did not promise to be a good season, especially considering the fact that Bulgaria remained closed for the citizens of Great Britain and Russia. However, the Russian Federation cancelled restrictions by the beginning of July, and thousands of tourists went to their favorite Bulgarian seaside resorts. 

Since the beginning of July, the tourism market has exploded. Holidays in Bulgaria were preferred by both local residents and citizens of other countries. Every day, thousands of people filled the resorts, and at the beginning of August it became clear that there was simply no accomodation for all vacationers. It turned out to be impossible to book an apartment in Sveti Vlas, Sunny Beach, in Pomorie. The demand for apartments in closed communities with swimming pools and good infrastructure began to decline only by the end of August. 

According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, more than 2.2 million tourists visited Bulgaria for a sea vacation this summer. Approximately 1.5 million travellers are Bulgarian citizens. The second place was taken by tourists from Romania; their number amounted to almost 223 thousand people. Then comes Poland (58 thousand), Czech Republic (37 thousand), Germany (34 thousand), Ukraine (33 thousand). Over 14.5 thousand people came to Bulgaria from Israel, at the same time from Russia there were only 7.3 thousand. Most of the travelers chose the resort towns of the Burgas region. However, a vivid interest was registered in Varna, Sofia, and Velingrad. 
Is there a sense to buy property in Bulgaria

Many potential real estate buyers, reading the news about the successful tourist season in 2021 in Bulgaria, will only shrug their shoulders: “We do not need this information, we are thinking about buying an apartment by the sea, let the tourists buy tours and live in hotels”. 

However, this is precisely where the main misconception lies. All experts agree on one thing - tourism in 2021 was predominantly individual. Vacationers themselves booked apartments, applied for visas, bought air tickets or found other opportunities to come to Bulgaria. Many rented apartments from real estate owners directly, through the online systems booking.com, airbnb.com or websites providing information on affordable housing on the sea. They also contacted real estate agencies, including Apart Estate. Group tours’ sales dropped considerably. This concerns tourists from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, most European countries and even Great Britain, whose residents traditionally prefer group tourism. 

According to the feedback from property owners, there were a lot of people who wanted to rent an apartment or house in the summer. That is why buying a property in Bulgaria for investment and income generation has become one of the leading trends in the real estate market.

Another feature of the tourist season 2021 is that many tourists came to seaside resorts by car. Despite delays at border crossings, this way of travelling has proven to be the most reliable. You can plan your trip yourself, no one cancels flights, and the documents requirements are very clear. Apartments in gated complexes with parking were especially popular among such tourists. 

The demand was predominantly for studio-, one- and two-bedroom apartments. They were searched by families with children, young people, and middle-aged people with a stable income who come to resorts to relax. As a result, many tourists complained that they could not find an apartment they liked – everything was busy. Watching this situation, some of the tourists started thinking about purchasing property by the sea and were surprised by the high demand for real estate in Bulgaria.

Given these facts, we can safely say that free, individual tourism can eventually replace group tourism. Private real estate in the sea resorts of Sunny Beach, Ravda, Nessebar, Sozopol, for rent, will be in great demand. If you are wondering whether it is worth buying an apartment in Bulgaria", then our answer is “definitely yes!" Apart Estate agency offers to buy real estate in Bulgaria for permanent residence, vacations at sea and ski resorts, as well as for getting an additional income. Our catalog contains apartments in Sunny Beach, Saint Vlas, Burgas, Tsarevo, Kosharitsa, Bansko, Pamporovo, etc.