Bulgaria sends thank-you postcards to tourists

SOFIA - 9 September 2017: European holiday spots may be getting fed up with tourists, but not Bulgaria, where the government is sending thank-you postcards to some of the record numbers of visitors to the country this year.

The “Thank you for choosing Bulgaria!” cards, showing the Thracian tomb in Kazanlak or the Rila Monastery, will be sent to 400,000 tourists chosen randomly from the five million who visited as of July 31.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said on her ministry’s website that the cards would be personally signed by her as a sign of her “gratitude”. The addresses were obtained from hotels.

Bulgaria is a cheap winter and summer holiday hotspot bordering Greece and the Black Sea, and tourism accounts for 13 per cent of its economic output.

The country, the European Union’s poorest member, posted a 7.2 per cent rise in visitors through July 31.