Sofia’s road to the future

In 2017 Sofia presented two new attractions - the Western Gate of Serdica Archaeological Park, which was opened for visitors at the end of May, and the Triangular Tower of Serdica which welcomed its first visitors in June, 2017. The Archeology of Sofia and Sofia region Exhibition in Sofia History Museum presented new finds from the site of St Nedelya Square. In another archaeological site - the Early Neolithic Settlement of Slatina, new residential buildings (late VII –early VI millennium BC) were uncovered, as well as their indoor facilities (furnaces, granaries, stone mills, etc.). These investments are a successful step towards the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 as well as an important contribution to the presentation of the diversity and richness of our European heritage. Just a few days ago in Brussels, the official ceremony at which Sofia was declared European Capital of Sport 2018 took place. The interest in the Bulgarian capital increases with each day. As it can be presented in numbers, here are some interesting facts about tourism in Sofia for the first ten months of 2017 (January – October):

• Sofia welcomed guests from 45 countries;
• Sofia was visited by 1 094 966 tourists and thus the number of visitors increased by 11.2 % compared to the same period of 2016;
• the overnight stays also increased by 13.3 %;
• the average length of stay in Sofia increased to 1.81 days (for the period January-October, 2017 it was 1.77 days)
• the most important markets for Sofia in terms of length of stay were Georgia (2.75 days), Latvia (2.67 days), Belarus (2.46 days), Armenia (2.43 days), Israel (2.34 days), Brazil (2.33 days), Finland (2,21 days), Estonia (2,19 days), Denmark (2,16 days), India (2,16 days), and Cyprus (2,15 days).