Bulgarian seaside hotels see a spike in bookings from Romanian tourists after requirement for PCR test on entry was lifted

Hours after it became clear that Bulgaria was lifting the requirement for Romanian citizens to present PCR test result upon entry into the country, hotels in Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach seaside resort saw a sharp rise in bookings.

Holidaymakers from Romania arrived in Sunny Beach and were given a festive welcome.

"I have been in this industry since I 1992. I have not seen such a boom in hotel reservations, for a few hours. Before that we had 300 bookings, but people were cancelling. They ssaid they would not come if they had to pay 80 euros for PCR test for two-day holidays. And when the requirement for presenting negative PCR test result was lifted on May 27, within four hours all these people confirmed the bookings. We made about 250-300 more reservations, from the same day people started arriving," hotelier Venelin Tashev, said.

Despite the lifting of PCR test result requirement, some Romanians did not understand and went for a COVID test before coming on holiday in Bulgaria.

"We had to do the obligatory laboratory test and only then the people at the border told us that it was not obligatory since Friday. This is my first visit here, but I'm not afraid. I like the weather, I like people, it was an important change for me and I'm very happy," said Calin Alexandro, a tourist from Romania.

"I will go to the beach, I like the parties around the pool. I am vaccinated and I do not worry. I entered Bulgaria only with my ID documents," said Alexandra Marie, a tourist from Romania.

Meanwhile, the vaccination of the tourism industry in Sunny Beach continues.

Hoteliers are pushing for lifting COVID restrictions in other countries in Europe, which the industry relies on to save the summer season.