Bulgarian tourism professionals and business people hailed China's decision to implement a visa-free policy for Bulgarian citizens, expecting the move to significantly boost tourism, trade, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
China has expanded its visa-free policy to nine additional countries, including eight in Europe, allowing their citizens to enter for up to 30 days without a visa for business, tourism, and other visits starting Nov. 30, 2024.
The policy now includes Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan, alongside other 29 nations already benefiting from China's open-door approach.
Premio Travel, an international travel company in Bulgaria, has been organizing Bulgarian tour groups to China since 2018. Its manager Emil Abazov said China has become one of the most popular tourist destinations.
Abazov, whose company sent over 900 tourists to China this year, welcomed China's visa-free policy, anticipating a significant increase in tourist arrivals from Bulgaria.
"This, in general, was a very, very smart decision and Bulgarians, some of them, are afraid about when it is a destination with a visa. So they are afraid because they have to go to the embassy, they have to speak foreign language, probably at the interview, etc. With the visa free policy, I'm sure it will be (attract) even much more [Bulgarian visitors to China]," said Emil Abazov.
Krastio V. Belev, chief expert of the Bulgarian Chinese Business Development Association, was one of the first Bulgarian students to study in China back in 1987. He said China's visa exemption will not only boost China's tourism and economic development but also promote personnel exchanges, allowing more foreigners to gain a deeper understanding of China.
"But what is more important to me is that people from Europe have to visit China, see China firsthand. It's a very diverse and beautiful country, very safe, very clean, very friendly people and very modern cities. It's a mixture of tradition and modern," said Krastio V. Belev.
In the third quarter of 2024, foreigners made 8.186 million inbound trips to China, up 48.8 percent year on year. Of that number, 4.885 million trips were facilitated by the visa-free policy, up 78.6 percent year on year, according to data from the National Immigration Administration released in mid-October.
Bulgaria's tourism, business sectors welcome China's visa-free policy
