Despite the record-breaking year for travel, Simon Calder encourages exploring lesser-known destinations in 2025. Bulgaria emerges as a budget-friendly option, capitalizing on the Eastern Balkans' appeal.
With the travel industry celebrating another record-breaking year, many eager explorers are setting their sights on new escapades for 2025. The first seven months of 2024 witnessed a surge in Europe an international tourist arrivals, which were up by an impressive 11 percent from the previous year and only lagged a marginal 4 percent behind pre-pandemic levels in 2019, signalling a robust recovery phase for the sector.
However, despite the uptick in tourism, trend patterns show that hotspots like Spain, France, Italy, and Greece continue to dominate holiday choices within Europe. In particular, Spain is preparing to host a staggering number of over 90 million tourists, while Paris, ignited by the frenzy of the 2024 Olympic Games, saw a significant 18.9 percent visitor increase compared with figures from the year before. Simon Calder, travel expert and journalist, has now shared his insights with the Daily Express, urging travelers to venture beyond the ordinary and consider some hidden gem destinations in 2025. He said: 'All the indications that we've seen, for instance the figures of people going through airports and the latest figures from travel companies show that we have an insatiable appetite for travel. And 2025 is going to be fantastic in having wider horizons than ever.' And if you're keen for a value-for-money getaway, Simon advised: 'If you want a bargain destination, then I would head for the Balkans - Bulgaria is always very good value for package holidays.' Bulgaria, nestled in the eastern Balkans just south of the Danube and west of the Black Sea, shares borders with Greece and Turkey, enjoying similarly scorching summer temperatures. In 2023, Bulgaria celebrated a record-breaking year with 8.6 million tourists, marking a 13 percent increase from the previous year, although still dwarfed by Greece's 33 million and Turkey's staggering 49 million visitor
TRAVEL DESTINATIONS EUROPE BULGARIA BUDGETTRAVEL
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