Foreign tourist arrivals to Bulgaria rose modestly in May, official data showed on June 29, but industry representatives warned the country's Black Sea tourism sector was facing a difficult start to the summer season.

Visits by foreign nationals increased 2.4% year-on-year to 1.02mn in May, recovering from a 1.4% annual decline recorded in April, preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) showed.

The increase was outpaced by growth in outbound travel, with Bulgarians making 922,500 trips abroad in May, up 5.5% from a year earlier.

Romania remained Bulgaria's largest source market with 254,700 visitors, followed by Turkey with 190,900 and Greece with 146,700. Germany, Serbia, Britain, North Macedonia, Poland, Ukraine and Italy rounded out the top 10 source markets.

Visitors from European Union countries accounted for 60.5% of all foreign arrivals, while travellers from other European countries represented 33.5%, led by Turkey.

Tourism-related travel accounted for 41.9% of foreign visits, while 43.9% were for other purposes and 14.2% for business. Transit passengers made up about 30% of all foreign arrivals.

Despite the increase in May arrivals, tourism businesses on Bulgaria's northern Black Sea coast say the summer season has started weakly.

The industry reports that tourist numbers in June are around 35% lower than a year earlier, with many hotels in the Golden Sands resort operating at roughly half capacity despite offering significant discounts, according to a Mediapool report.

"It's never been this bad before," Stanislav Stoyanov, deputy chairman of the Golden Sands Hoteliers' Union, told Nova Television.

The industry blames the slowdown on poor transport connectivity, including a lack of charter flights, inadequate road infrastructure and the loss of key source markets.

Stoyanov said arrivals from Germany had fallen by more than 30%, while Bulgaria had also lost much of its Russian and Baltic tourist business in recent years. Weaker demand from Romania, traditionally one of the country's largest tourism markets, has also weighed on visitor numbers, he said.

Meanwhile, Bulgarians continued to travel abroad in growing numbers, with Turkey and Greece remaining the most popular destinations, followed by Romania, Serbia and Germany. Holiday travel accounted for 42.5% of outbound trips.