Accommodation establishments - May 2026

Accommodation establishments - May 2026

In May 2026, 2 648 accommodation establishments - hotels, motels, camping sites, mountain chalets and other establishments for short-term accommodation, with 10 or more bed-places, functioned in the country (Annex, Table 1), with 109.1 thousand rooms and 243.9 thousand bed-places in them. In comparison with the same month of the previous year, the number of accommodation establishments decreased by 0.4%, and the bed-places in them increased by 2.9%.

The total number of nights spent was 1 570.8 thousand, or 2.5% more in comparison to a year earlier. The nights spent by Bulgarian residents were 799.3 thousand and by non-residents - 771.5 thousand.

In 4 and 5-star accommodation establishments were realized 81.5% of the total number of nights spent by non-residents and 49.0% - by Bulgarian residents. In those with 3 stars were spent 11.3% of the nights by non-residents and 24.1% - by Bulgarian residents, while in those with 1 and 2 stars they were 7.2% and 26.9%, respectively (Figure 1).

The number of arrivals[1] increased by 2.8% compared to the same month in 2025, and reached 677.0 thousand, as an increase by 9.3% for non-residents and a decrease by 1.3% for Bulgarian residents was reported. The Bulgarian residents were 402.8 thousand and spent 2.0 nights on average. The arrivals of non-residents were 274.2 thousand and had 2.8 nights on average, as 79.3% of them spent nights in accommodation establishments with 4 and 5 stars (Figure 2).

[1] According to instructions from Eurostat, the refugees from Ukraine are not included in the survey.

The total occupancy of the bed-places was 21.1% and it decreased by 0.9 percentage points compared to a year earlier. The highest occupancy of the bed-places was in 4 and 5-star accommodation establishments - 23.4%, followed by those with 3 stars - 19.5%, and with 1 and 2 stars - 16.3% (Figure 3).

The total revenues from nights spent increased by 20.6%, compared to the same month of the previous year, and reached 82.7 million EUR, as 42.6 million EUR were from non-residents and 40.1 million EUR - from Bulgarian residents (Figure 4).

 

Methodological notes

Since 2012, the statistical survey on accommodation establishments has been carried out monthly in compliance with the Regulation 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism and the Regulation 1051/2011 of the Commission implementing Regulation 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism, as regards the structure of the quality reports and the transmission of the data.

All categorized hotels, camping sites and other types of accommodation establishments with 10 or more bed-places in use during the reporting period are included in the observation.

The indicator other accommodation establishments includes holiday settlements, hostels, guest houses, bungalows, rest houses, mountain chalets, private rooms and flats and other establishments for short accommodation.

Available Bed Capacity is the maximum number of bed-places, offered for each day of the reference month.

The revenues from nights spent in accommodation establishments include the sums paid by the guests, without the extra services.

 

Annex

Table 1

Activity of accommodation establishments in May 2026
Districts Establishments[1]- in numbers Bed-places - in numbers Available bed-nights - in numbers Nights spent - in numbers Arrivals in accommodation establishments - in numbers Revenues from nights spent - Thousand EUR
Total Of which: By non-residents Total Of which: Non-residents Total Of which: By non-residents
Total 2 648 243 866 7 453 541 1 570 764 771 425 676 990 274 214 82 725 42 626
Blagoevgrad 176 14 828 459 668 94 667 15 062 45 263 6 858 6 916 1 056
Burgas 253 70 468 2 074 730 326 319 241 592 96 309 59 109 15 251 10 312
Varna 224 46 184 1 422 406 230 650 171 867 84 092 54 580 12 957 10 007
Veliko Tarnovo 167 5 673 175 863 38 642 10 595 23 807 7 492 1 478 499
Vidin 29 974 33 294 8 375 1 614 5 589 872 360 72
Vratsa 40 1 454 45 074 10 424 1 118 5 545 458 314 40
Gabrovo 66 3 206 99 386 15 380 1 208 8 520 618 545 55
Dobrich 94 14 434 447 454 85 646 64 057 26 470 16 780 5 197 4 021
Kardzhali 75 2 211 68 541 11 224 1 001 8 024 623 481 44
Kyustendil 74 2 624 83 204 15 369 2 118 9 732 1 181 820 110
Lovech 124 4 529 140 129 21 345 960 11 393 526 1 092 46
Montana 36 1 571 48 701 10 166 1 113 5 219 600 364 41
Pazardzhik 127 8 263 260 555 77 004 4 468 33 075 1 507 3 800 262
Pernik 9 467 14 477 4 202 646 2 407 321 160 32
Pleven 29 1 808 56 048 16 411 3 514 9 115 1 387 537 123
Plovdiv 244 13 272 415 214 128 950 33 602 67 437 18 951 5 746 1 546
Razgrad 19 726 22 506 4 598 875 2 458 359 175 42
Ruse 62 2 442 75 695 21 234 5 614 12 436 3 253 851 286
Silistra 28 837 25 947 4 521 472 2 821 281 180 24
Sliven 48 1 584 49 104 8 552 1 957 5 193 810 364 106
Smolyan 186 7 982 247 346 39 398 1 864 18 440 1 044 1 542 86
Sofia 86 7 091 219 821 43 110 11 715 19 124 4 114 2 068 563
Sofia (stolitsa) 179 17 615 546 065 239 752 170 013 120 187 77 974 15 635 11 914
Stara Zagora 73 6 377 197 687 67 725 6 223 26 086 2 444 3 759 320
Targovishte 13 529 16 399 3 062 506 2 092 291 135 27
Haskovo 99 4 444 137 764 31 852 15 963 19 420 10 926 1 540 923
Shumen 71 1 597 49 507 9 563 1 173 5 149 606 354 43
Yambol 17 676 20 956 2 623 515 1 587 249 104 26
[1] In use.

Detailed data can be found on the website of NSI at the sections:
Accommodation Establishments