Bulgaria's state budget is expected to receive over EUR 3 B in tourism revenues by the end of 2012, according to the country's Deputy Economy Minister, Ivo Marinov.

There would be a 5% to 8% year-on-year increase in the number of foreign tourists that visit Bulgaria in 2012, Marinov believes.

He has told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency that the largest number of foreign tourists is expected to arrive from Russia.

According to Bulgarian government data, Bulgaria was visited by 6.4 million foreign tourists in 2011, an overall increase of 4.6% compared with 2010. At the same time, Bulgaria's revenues from foreign tourists' visits grew by 3.8 y/y, reaching EUR 2.8 B.