This morning, the first cruise ship with tourists for the upcoming season docked at Pontoon #9. "Viking Lif" carries more than 170 passengers - mostly American citizens, moving from Vienna to the Danube Delta.

Tourists will have the opportunity to visit the sights in Ruse and its surroundings - the Basarbovsky rock monastery and the Ivanovo rock churches, as well as to walk around the old capital of Bulgaria - Veliko Tarnovo. Late tonight, the ship will depart for the Romanian coast, where the passengers will spend the night.

The first tourists of the season were welcomed by the Deputy Mayor Zlatomyra Stefanova and employees of the "Tourism" unit of the Municipality of Ruse. The guests were given brochures with possible places to visit and the slogan "Enjoy every Ruse minute!" Zlatomira Stefanova wished the tour operators a successful season and favorable conditions for moving along the river.

The cruise ship "Amareina" with 120 passengers - Australian and New Zealand citizens - is expected to dock at the Ruse port later today. They will be able to take a walk in Rousse and take a tour around the sights of the "Rusenski Lom" Nature Park.

According to preliminary information, more than 450 ship stops at the Ruse quay are expected in the coming season. On March 31, the first Bulgarian cruise ship "Ruse Prestige" will arrive, which will stop at Pontoon No. 8.

In December 2022, it was voted at a session of the Municipal Council on the quay strip to place a pavilion for a tourist information center and a kind of Alley of Crafts, made up of 6 pavilions for the sale of souvenirs and handicrafts made by Ruse masters. The idea is to stimulate local artists and traders, and tourists, incl. those arriving by cruise ships, to have the opportunity to purchase goods from them. Competitions for leasing the commercial premises are coming up, and the municipal administration expresses its willingness to turn the quay strip into an even more attractive place for residents of Ruse and guests of the city.