Visa-free travel of Bulgarians delights Edirne tradesmen

EDİRNE

A recent decision that no longer requires Bulgarian citizens to obtain visa to visit Türkiye has lured more shoppers to the country, particularly to the provinces on the common border, while the tradesmen in the region have been pleased with the decision.

Tradesmen in the northwestern province of Edirne, hanged posters in Bulgarian on Saraçlar, the busiest street of the city, after the Bulgarian citizens started to meet all their needs from the city, from food to clothing.

“There has been an intense influx of Bulgarians in the last few years, which we are pleased with. We all know Türkiye’s financial situation, we would close the shutters if they don’t come,” said Tuğba Oğuz, a tradeswoman in Edirne, noting that the most intense influx was in 2018, during the rise of the foreign currency.

Sibel Denizli, another tradeswoman in the region, pointed out that the financial troubles in Türkiye have caused the number of Turkish customers to decrease. “Turkish customers buy at most two of the 20 bags I sell a day.”

“Bulgarians can buy what they need or like without thinking about it. We are pleased with the arrival of them,” said another tradesman Ahmet Kaşdaş.

“However, the fact that we are not able to go there, as they come to our country when they want and do their shopping as they wish, feels offensive,” he added.

“We have an hour’s drive to Edirne, I come right away when I need it. We both do our shopping and browse around as it’s cheaper here,” said Yurdanka Hritova, a Bulgarian visitor, adding that she comes to Türkiye at least once a month.

Zilatko Raşonova, another Bulgarian tourist, said that he always comes to Edirne. “We get all our needs from here. Groceries here are more affordable for us.”

“Since our entry is not at all challenging, Bulgarians have been visiting and shopping here for years,” he added.

The respective decision, which allows Bulgarian visitors to stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days, on visa-free travel was published in the Official Gazette on July 27.

The move is designed to attract more tourists from the neighboring country, which will give a boost to hard currency earnings of Türkiye.

Between January-May, nearly 950,000 Bulgarian nationals visited Türkiye, claiming the second spot in the list of foreign tourists after Germans. Bulgarians accounted for 8.3 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals. Over the same period, Türkiye welcomed more than 1.3 million Germans.

In May alone, nearly 270,000 Bulgarians visited Türkiye.

In the first five months of 2022, Edirne welcomed 1.3 million tourists, according to the latest data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

However, Turkish citizens are still required to obtain a visa to visit Bulgaria.

Nationals of 16 countries, including Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece as well as Georgia do not need a visa and enter Türkiye with their IDs.