Minister Angelkova: Each tourist site will have its own identification number

27 March 2018

The first meeting of the Public Council with the Minister of Tourism was held with representatives of the branch and scientific circles 

We plan to create an identification number for each tourist site - each accommodation, catering and entertainment place will have its own unique number by which a uniform classification of tourist sites will be made and will help to improve the functioning of the Unified Tourist Information System and eliminate duplication with the same names of sites. This was announced by the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova at the opening of the first meeting of the Public Council with the Minister of Tourism. It includes representatives of the tourism industry, the scientific community and the tourism organizations. The first meeting of the Council was attended by nearly 60 people. The site identification number will be introduced through changes in the Law on Tourism, being currently prepared. The amendments to the Law on Tourism will include the important texts related to the status of the national resorts, said Minister Angelkova. The regulation will help solve the problems of financing, development and maintenance and management of the related tourist infrastructure, said Minister Angelkova.

She definitely stated that the intensified checks on the work of tour operators and travel agents will continue. It is therefore important for the ministry to have more powers in the subsequent administrative control. This could be achieved by setting up an inspectorate at the ministry so that they can make timely inspections of the sites without waiting for alerts until the situation becomes intolerable, the Minister said. She gave an example with the Chiflika Hotel with falling ceilings and damp in the walls, where the tourists have been also accommodated in the basement. The control of observance of consumer rights in the future will continue to be performed by the Commission for Consumer Protection, the Minister said.

We expect the amendments to the Law on Tourism to create a mechanism for uniting the tourist industry and developing sustainable and environmentally-friendly mountain and ski tourism. The new texts will include the decisions of the expert groups that have been working on the project for more than a year, Minister Angelkova said. She announced that the final proposal for the Amendment and Supplement Act (ASA) of the Law on Tourism will be uploaded on the official website of the Ministry within 2 weeks. It will then be subject to a one-month public consultation during which all interested parties will be able to send their comments and suggestions. The final ASA will be submitted for discussion to the Council of Ministers.

Minister Angelkova presented to the Public Council the main changes that the experts prepare in the Ordinance on the requirements for the accommodation, catering and entertainment sites. In line with the government's priority to reduce the administrative burden on businesses, there will be substantial relief in some requirements. It is planned that there will be no special condition for the volume of the rooms in the four-star and five-star hotels, the rules for a certain size of the rooms remain, but as square area, it became clear during the Council’s meeting. Possibly, the obligation will be waived for having air conditioners in the rooms of mountain hotels, it is likely that high-class hotels will choose whether to have a currency exchange office or not, explained the experts from the Ministry of Tourism. However, the changes will be discussed with the branch. Its representatives will be able to indicate the texts that are not currently operative and need to be changed. For me, however, in the first place the quality of the tourist product is important. So, when re-evaluating the existing requirements will remain those that guarantee the good customer service, the minister definitely stated.

She added that active work is being done for establishing a direct link between business and education, as the hiring of worker from third countries is only a temporary solution.

The Public Council to the Minister of Tourism has a key function - it has to discuss the main policies in the sector, said Martin Zahariev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the National Tourism Council.

Facebook icon
Twitter icon
Google icon
e-mail icon