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
| 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. |
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