Planning and founding (1957–1960)
Design work began in 1957 with a team led by architect Nikola Nikolov, on the then-empty 8 km strip of beach between Nessebar and Sveti Vlas. Construction started under Decree No. 120 of the Council of Ministers of 30 June 1958. On 1 September 1958 the first hotels and rest homes were officially opened, and the resort's first guest — the Czechoslovak František Silvester — was accommodated at the Kalina Hotel on 8 June 1959.
Socialist-era heyday (1960–1989)
In the 1960s–70s Sunny Beach drew hundreds of thousands of tourists a year — mainly from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Soviet Union. Landmark hotels such as Globus, Burgas and Kuban were built, along with the first restaurants and discos. The state firm Balkantourist ran the resort.
Modern expansion (1989 — today)
After the transition of 1989, the state-owned company Slanchev Bryag EAD was put up for privatisation on 14 March 1994, and 157 hotels and emblematic complex assets were sold by the Privatisation Agency between 1996 and 2002. New private hotels, water parks, clubs and thousands of apartments emerged. Annually, Sunny Beach welcomes over 1.5 million tourists — chiefly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Romania and Russia. On 4 July 1995 the resort became the first in Bulgaria to be awarded the Blue Flag certificate.