He says that of Sunny Beach’s more than 150 hotels, more than half have not opened and many of those that have may well have to close early. The collapse is unprecedented and “tragic” says Kopchev, adding: “None of us ever imagined anything like this could befall us.” There is little hope the numbers will pick up for the rest of the season. In addition, the tourism ministry decided to subsidise charter flights and allow in tourists with a negative virus PCR test from several neighbouring non-EU countries, as well as from Israel and Kuwait.īut those efforts seem to have largely been in vain.įigures from Burgas airport, which services Sunny Beach, show a 98% drop in charter flights in June, followed by 87% in July when fewer than 400 out of an expected 2,800 planes arrived.

The government has tried to tackle the crisis by launching a campaign to encourage Bulgarians to holiday at home. “Our bar is open and that’s fine with us even if the hotel is only 15 percent full,” said Czech teacher Lenka Svobodova, 35, who ventured on holiday with three friends. “Our turnover is down 90% from last year, there are simply no foreigners and Bulgarian visitors are few,” beach bar manager Nedelin Yankov, 37, told AFP. Rows and rows of sunbeds and umbrellas lie empty while hawkers selling inflatable flamingos and other beach must-haves wait idly by. The British tourists who would normally be thronging the fine golden sands are nowhere to be seen, while the occasional Czech, Polish or Romanian family scurries to the beach through the deserted alleys or enjoy having a hotel pool to themselves. Now Bulgarians are shocked that other EU nations introduce conditions to admit their compatriots on their soil. COVID-19: Why did the ‘good pupil’ Bulgaria lag behind?īulgaria was among the EU countries with the less cases of COVID-19 until mid-June, when measures were relaxed.

Sunny rest resort coronavirus