Nearly one million Romanians visited Bulgaria in 2015, up by 4.1% compared to the previous year, according to Bronislav Denev, head of the economic and commercial section of the Bulgarian Embassy to Bucharest.

According to him, the Romanians represented the largest number of foreign tourists who went to Bulgaria for leisure and tourism in 2015, for the eighth consecutive year.

“On average, Romanian tourists spend between EUR 600 and EUR 800 per person in Bulgaria, for holidays throughout the year, which means that the total amount goes up to some EUR 600-800 million,” said Denev.

Some Romanian families go to Bulgaria several times a year, for different holidays. Thus, in financial terms, if the business trips are included, the amount Romanians spend in Bulgaria surpasses EUR 1 billion per year, the Bulgarian official estimates.

By comparison, foreign tourists spent some EUR 1.3 billion in Romania in 2015, according to Romania's National Statistic Institute (INS).

The number of Bulgarians who visited Romania increased by 3.5% year-on-year in 2015, to almost 323,000.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com