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Thousands of compatriots welcomed 2021 on the shores of the Indian Ocean
The main tour operators in Bulgaria have organized direct charter flights to eliminate inspections and tests.
The destinations will be a success at least for the duration of the pandemic.
Hundreds and even thousands of Bulgarians welcomed 2021 to the shores of the Indian Ocean, with the two most visited destinations this year being Zanzibar and the Maldives.
For the first time in the last ten years, many tour operators have engaged direct charter flights from Sofia to the two island countries, so, in addition to saving travel time, which is not small, it eliminated all transfers and transfers at airports, and therefore the inevitable PCR tests. Although few in number, there were programs to celebrate Christmas and New Years on both islands with a trip to Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
In general, destinations like Dubai, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Maldives and others. move when it is winter in our country, but this year there was an additional circumstance – Zanzibar and the Maldives were declared free of COVID zone and to enter their territory it is not necessary to do PCR tests or present their results. In the context of Japan, which still does not accept foreigners, Indonesia, which is completely closed due to the pandemic, and several other exotic countries, they remain almost the only option. That is why many colleagues are betting on direct charter flights from Bulgaria, which are carried out for the first time in the last ten years, “said for” 24 hours “the board member of the Association of Bulgarian tour operators and travel agents Lyubomir Nikolov.
Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, where our compatriots often go on safari during the winter holidays. This year, however, the African country has been inaccessible to foreigners, and many Bulgarians who go there regularly have also preferred a vacation on the island north of Madagascar.
The direct flight from Sofia to Dar es Salaam, which is the largest city in Tanzania and where it lands in the middle, takes just under 8 hours. To Male, the capital of the Republic of Maldives, which consists of separate islands to the south of India, it is 10 hours.
However, what seems to have weighed the most in the choice of these destinations is that due to COVID, the number of tourists has dropped significantly and locals have been forced to double prices.
“If last winter at that time renting a villa for four people in the Maldives cost 4,000 euros for the holidays, this winter it was 2,000 euros,” said Nikolov.
According to the testimonies of many Bulgarians who shared their experiences in these exotic places on Facebook, the holidays were for all budgets: they were very expensive, but also very cheap.
For example, a 6-day stay in a luxury hotel in one of the Maldives costs an average of € 1,200 per person, excluding holiday packs.
In Zanzibar, this is the average price for a 10-day all-inclusive stay at a 5-star hotel. Although PCR testing is not currently required, medical costs for possible COVID quarantine or treatment are covered by medical insurance, which is included in the price.
At least a dozen of the largest Bulgarian tour operators have organized numerous charter flights to Zanzibar and the Maldives in the period after early December. Interestingly, if you look at their sites, these programs continue and are planned for all of January, February and in some companies, for March and April. Obviously, the destinations will remain a success, at least as long as the current pandemic continues, and there are no other options for exotic excursions far away.
“In 5-star hotels, the rest is very orderly: food and service. The beach is beautiful, blue water and white sand. There are disinfectants everywhere, the service personnel wear masks, but tourists do not want them or want them tests. The outside temperature is 29 degrees, the New Year’s Eve dinner was excellent, with cheese, ham and many types of fish. Then there was a program on the beach, the New Year’s celebration was there, accompanied by music and dancing “, a Bulgarian woman who welcomed the new year 2021 in Zanzibar shared on Facebook.
“I finally managed to get a tan,” television journalist Desi Tsoneva, who is the daughter of Dimitar Tsonev, wrote on Instagram. He welcomed the new year in the Maldives.
“All inclusive, but with the guests in mind, a five-course à la carte menu for lunch and dinner, a fabulous garden cared for down to the smallest detail, individual yoga and fitness activities, pleasant massages and everything you need to avoid you care what is happening behind the doors. Well, yes, but we are interested in everything behind the doors. I have a contact with a local travel agent, I contact him and we organize two tours: ocean safari, snorkeling and delicious crabs for lunch, a sunset walk in the ocean, “wrote Radina Denkova from Sofia on Facebook. She visited Zanzibar and She asked the travel agent to arrange for a local woman to prepare typical food on the spot for a fee.
The tourist declaration taxes already send electronically
The tax return with tourist tax, which is completed by all the people who offer accommodation, even from the rooms, is now sent electronically. This was announced by the State Electronic Government Agency (DAEU).
The service is available to users through the Portal to access the electronic administrative services of the department. To request the electronic service, it is necessary that the owner of the site has a qualified electronic signature (QES) and has in the agency’s secure electronic delivery system. The completed and signed electronic declaration form must be sent through the system to the municipal administration of the tourist site location.
The declaration under art. 61 p, para. 5 of the Law of Local Taxes and Taxes for Taxation with Tourist Tax will be presented for each tourist site – means of refuge or place of accommodation in the sense of the Tourism Law. Until January 31 of each year, it is declared in the municipality where the tourist site is located, for taxation with the tourist tax of the previous calendar year.
The amount of the tax itself is determined each year by the local municipal council and varies between 20 cents and 3 levs for each night, depending on the settlement and whether it is a resort or not. The amount of the tax owed for the calendar month is determined by an employee of the municipal administration based on the data of the Unique System of Tourism Information maintained by the Ministry of Tourism, and the number of nights planned for the month is multiplied by the amount of the tax.
It must be taken into account that these data are already detected among various institutions. For example, after the end of the calendar month, as well as after the end of the current year, the Ministry of Tourism automatically provides electronically to the Ministry of Finance the necessary data from the Unified Tourism Information System through the information exchange system .
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