Tourism season in Bulgaria is under threat.

A serious staffing crisis has occurred on the Bulgarian coast ahead of the summer season. The Sunny Beach needs 100,000 employees, reports the portal trud.bg

Several media outlets and experts confirm that there is a severe shortage of personnel at Bulgaria's resorts. According to estimates, the need at the beginning of the summer season is 200,000 workers who are missing.

To cover the labor shortage, employers are turning to foreign workers

Hotel and restaurant owners are unable to find enough staff, so wages have risen by at least 10% compared to last year. However, the problem of labor shortages remains chronic.

Although Bulgaria has a developed tourist infrastructure, the state failed to effectively regulate the influx of foreign workers in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and staffing agencies, noted Veselin Nalbantov, vice president of the Bulgarian Association of Hotels and Restaurants.

Out of the 200,000 workers needed on the coast, 100,000 should be employed at Sunny Beach, where about 700,000 accommodations have already been booked. Nalbantov mentioned that although higher wages attract workers, the staff shortage is exacerbated by the declining population of Bulgaria. About 3 million Bulgarians have emigrated, including many IT specialists seeking better opportunities abroad.

Recall that Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has once again made anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian statements. During a speech at the Sofia Economic Forum, he criticized the Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023, blaming Ukraine and its European partners for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.