NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests)

Burgas had the highest nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests) of 28 areas in 2021, at 3.5 million. Pernik had the lowest, at 2,597. The median was 17,300 and the figure for Bulgaria was 7.99 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest3,499,240Burgas
Lowest2,597Pernik
Median17,30028 areas
Bulgaria7,993,767History

All areas, 2021

Burgas: 3,499,240 countBurgas3,499,240Varna: 2,338,715 countVarna2,338,715Dobrich: 758,171 countDobrich758,171Sofia (stolitsa): 666,350 countSofia (stolitsa)666,350Blagoevgrad: 186,073 countBlagoevgrad186,073Plovdiv: 139,687 countPlovdiv139,687Sofia: 90,743 countSofia90,743Haskovo: 36,502 countHaskovo36,502Veliko Tarnovo: 33,090 countVeliko Tarnovo33,090Smolyan: 31,638 countSmolyan31,638Stara Zagora: 29,071 countStara Zagora29,071Ruse: 28,565 countRuse28,565Kardzhali: 21,405 countKardzhali21,405Pazardzhik: 18,949 countPazardzhik18,949Pleven: 15,650 countPleven15,650Lovech: 14,021 countLovech14,021Sliven: 12,089 countSliven12,089Kyustendil: 10,860 countKyustendil10,860Razgrad: 10,791 countRazgrad10,791Shumen: 9,996 countShumen9,996Gabrovo: 8,105 countGabrovo8,105Vratsa: 7,345 countVratsa7,345Vidin: 6,440 countVidin6,440Yambol: 5,413 countYambol5,413Targovishte: 5,289 countTargovishte5,289Silistra: 3,899 countSilistra3,899Montana: 3,073 countMontana3,073Pernik: 2,597 countPernik2,597
count. Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankAreas2021
count
Change on 2020
1Burgas3,499,240+137.5%
2Varna2,338,715+109.3%
3Dobrich758,171+67.3%
4Sofia (stolitsa)666,350+63.7%
5Blagoevgrad186,073-53.6%
6Plovdiv139,687+57.3%
7Sofia90,743-58.6%
8Haskovo36,502+33.8%
9Veliko Tarnovo33,090-32%
10Smolyan31,638-76.2%
11Stara Zagora29,071+39.4%
12Ruse28,565+72.2%
13Kardzhali21,405+174.7%
14Pazardzhik18,949+22.1%
15Pleven15,650-53.3%
16Lovech14,021+114.6%
17Sliven12,089+71.8%
18Kyustendil10,860n/a
19Razgrad10,791-43.2%
20Shumen9,996-34.5%
21Gabrovo8,105+38.1%
22Vratsa7,345+5.2%
23Vidin6,440-88.8%
24Yambol5,413-5.2%
25Targovishte5,289-47.6%
26Silistra3,899+51.7%
27Montana3,073-93.6%
28Pernik2,597n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Nights spent in the year by guests whose usual residence is outside the country, at hotels and similar accommodation, holiday and other short-stay accommodation, and campsites (NACE Rev. 2 groups 55.1 to 55.3) (Eurostat).

Guests are classed by country of residence, not nationality: a Spanish citizen living in France counts as non-resident in Spain. Nights by residents and non-residents together are tourist_nights. From the EU survey of occupancy in tourist accommodation establishments. Countries may leave out establishments with fewer than 10 bed places (20 in countries with under 1% of EU nights), and private rentals booked through online platforms are partly outside the survey: see short_stay_platform_guest_nights.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the areas are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2) (NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table

MLA 9

Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2), NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021. Eurostat, European Commission, 9 Oct. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2). NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2), NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_nuts_3_areas_of_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour\_occ\_nin2): NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour\_occ\_nin2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour\_occ\_nin2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2): NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests), 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourist-nights-non-residents/bulgaria-provinces?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tour_occ_nin2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which area has the highest nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests)?

Burgas, with 3.5 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which area has the lowest nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests)?

Pernik, with 2,597 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by NUTS 3 region, non-residents (foreign country of residence), hotels, holiday accommodation and campsites (tour_occ_nin2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Nights spent in tourist accommodation by non-residents (foreign guests): other rankings

NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria: more rankings