Tour operator TUI sees doubling of Bulgarian summer bookings
2007-09-19 10:00:00
Thomson and Portland Holiday Direct, units of tour operator TUI UK, plan to increase the number of Bulgarian holiday packages sold in Britain to 70,000 this year, up from 33,000 in '05, Dnevnik learned from TUI Bulgaria manager Valentin Yosifov. TUI's carrier Thomsonfly will offer charter flights to Bulgarian coastal cities Varna and Bourgas this summer. No schedule has been announced for the upcoming charter service. Portland Holiday Direct markets 8 hotels in Bulgarian sea resorts Zlatni Pyasatsi, Slanchev Bryag and Obzor. The Thomson website does not list the out operator's affiliate hotels in Bulgaria. In contrast to TUI UK and Thomas Cook, the other British tour operators selling Bulgarian packages have reported a slowdown in bookings for the summer holidays. First Choice said the year-on-year decline in bookings was 20% in early March. Balkan Holidays-London was 3-4% behind the year-ago figures. My Travel was doing 5% better year-on-year but that company operates with a very limited capacity in Bulgaria. Britain is the second most important foreign market for Bulgaria's tourism industry after Germany.

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