Bulgaria has been ranked ninth among Germany's most popular tourist destinations by the GIATA-Ranking Agency, the Bulgarian Union of Tourism Investors announced.

Bulgaria has improved its ranking index from 1.7 in March, 2007, to 2.2 in March, 2008. Spain ranks first as a destination for German tourists, followed by its island Maiorca, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Tunisia, and Thailand.

The ranking was based on analysis of the work of 16 000 travel agencies in Germany, offering reservations at 60 000 hotels around the world.

Bulgaria is the only former Soviet Bloc country in the top ten of the ranking. None of the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, however, is in top ten of the resorts most visited by Germans.

Representatives of the Union of Tourism Investors commented that Bulgaria's modest advertising campaign in Germany and the lack of advertising materials did not serve to improve its image as a top tourist destination.

The main tourist operators managing Germans' vacations to Bulgaria are TUI, Thomas Cook-Neckermann, ITS Koeln, and Altours. The charter flights to Bulgaria from thirty airports in Germany begin on April 29 and end on October 27.