Bulgaria observed the International Tourism Day on September 27 with a 7 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals to the country. In the course of the ongoing year, nearly 4 million foreigners have spent their vacations in Bulgarian beaches bathed by the Black Sea and in the nation’s mountain resorts. The interest of world outbound markets in Bulgaria is also on the rise, given the country’s possibilities for the practice of high-end tourism, a segment that’s opening an interesting perspective for the nation as a travel destination.

Most foreign sunbathers arriving in Bulgaria hail from European Union nations. Comparative figures from last year indicate those numbers have soared 30 percent from 2006, according to the State Tourism Agency. Now on a roll in the field of tourism, the beach and mountain resorts are increasingly becoming huge swarms of human beings.

Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital and a major travel destination in Southeast Europe, is in the crosshairs of the recently-approved nationwide tourism development strategy that will reach into the year 2010. “Growing but not growing older” is Sofia’s slogan, a city with a millenary past and modern European looks.

Featuring ancient churches, museums, art galleries and antique shops, as well as state-of-the-art hotels, fancy restaurants and cafeterias, this city that stands on the hillsides of Vitosha is luring hundreds of thousands of tourists coming from every nov and cranny of the world.

However, it must be said this city still has a long way to go to deliver better organization for foreign tourists’ stays, and that’s the overall opinion of experts from the industry. Quite recently, the whole nation went the extra mile to map out a general development strategy for the advance of tourism in Sofia. The strategy is now getting full support from the capital’s City Hall.

Upgrading the existing infrastructure, opening new possibilities for cultural tourism, and improving its image around the world have been some of the top priorities contained in this strategic effort. For the realization of this policy as many as 700 million will be forked over, mostly for the restoration of historic and cultural monuments, the embellishment of parks and lawn areas, and the implementation of snowboarding facilities up in the mountains of neighboring Vitosha. At the same time, there are plans to create a high-tech information and booking system.

Sofia has made some positive changes over the past years. Right now, the nation’s capital is home to 80 hotels in three-, four- and five-star categories, totaling 4,000 beds and superb services. That lovely city has made a comeback as a luring destination and host of major congresses at regional and international levels. More and more foreigners are traipsing the streets, mostly couples with their children in tow.

The annual increase in the number of tourists heading for Sofia is hovering over 16 percent. They come especially from neighboring Greece and Turkey, though countries like UK, France, the Nordic nations and Italy, among others, are making contributions of their own.