No more cheap holiday destinations? “More difficult for a tourist to spot”

The start of the summer season in Bulgaria was worse than entrepreneurs expected. The novinite.com website reported a decline in hotel occupancy by as much as 30-40 percent. and rebound in early July. Many tourists feel that the adoption of the euro from January 1, 2026 has resulted in price increases. In the summer, entries about high prices at beaches and seaside restaurants began to appear on the Internet.

“In Nessebar, fish soup that cost 8 leva now costs 8 euros, next year they will get smarter, unless inflation kills them” – we read in a comment under the entry on the fanpage “Primorsko Bulgaria – guide and information”.

Are price increases significant and what do they result from? We asked Grzegorz Sielewicz, director of the Economic and Market Analysis Department in the Central and Eastern Europe region at the Colliers consulting company, about this.

Will Bulgaria be more expensive this holiday season?

– There have been publications suggesting that Bulgaria, previously perceived as a cheaper and more competitive destination than other countries in Europe, has become expensive after the introduction of the euro. In my opinion, the truth about prices lies somewhere in between. We see that inflation in Bulgaria remains higher than in Poland and on average in the euro zone. In June it was 5.6 percent. The prices of services, especially important from the tourist’s point of view, have also increased. In restaurants, the increases ranged from 10 to 20 percent. This is higher than the general inflation rate, but there is no question of a double price increase – he says in an interview with “Wprost”.

He adds that the costs of transport and delivery of goods have also become more expensive in Bulgaria. – This has an impact on hotels that are dependent on various forms of deliveries and pass on the costs to the end customer, i.e. the tourist – he adds.

The change to the euro is not without its impact

The economist admits that there is a possibility of price increases after the currency change – they may be rounded up. For now, tourists can still compare them in supermarkets and catering outlets.

– The mechanism of displaying prices in both currencies is still in force, but when the requirement disappears, the difference between prices expressed in leva and euro will begin to blur. This may already be encouraging some hoteliers and restaurateurs to round up “unequal” prices. If the meal cost 10 leva, after conversion it should cost 5.11 euros. I doubt that would be the case. We will probably see 5.50 or even 6 euros in the price list. Even if the government has introduced price controls, their effectiveness may decline over time. In a year, few consumers will remember what the price should have been after accurate conversion from the old currency. From the perspective of a tourist, such changes are more difficult to detect than from the perspective of a resident of Bulgaria, he says.

Therefore, according to the expert, “tourist” Bulgaria may become more expensive than statistical Bulgaria.

– Tourists pay mainly for accommodation, meals, beach services and local transport – he explains. –It is the prices of services that usually grow faster than the prices of goods. I wouldn’t attribute this solely to Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone. In Poland, we are also observing an increase in the prices of services. If the consumer is prepared for these increases, entrepreneurs may be more willing to further increase prices. However, I would not overestimate the scale of this effect, because the Bulgarian tourism sector still needs to remain competitive,” he comments.