Minister Angelkova had meetings in three directorates general of the European Commission

In Brussels the Bulgarian minister had a discussion with Gert Jan Koopman, General Director of “Budget” Department, Carles Esteva Mosso, Deputy Director General of “Competition” Department and Normund Popens, Deputy Director General of “Regional and Urban Policy” Department

The Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova had meetings with the directors of three directorates general of the European Commission during her working visit in Brussels.

She had discussions with Gert Jan Koopman, General Director of “Budget” Department, Carles Esteva Mosso, Deputy Director General of “Competition” Department and Normund Popens, Deputy Director General of “Regional and Urban Policy” Department

“We have the idea to develop 9 integrated tourist projects, which will be proposed for funding during the next programme period,” said Minister Angelkova during her meeting  with Normund Popens, Deputy Director General of “Regional and Urban Policy” Department. “The 2021-2027 EU funds budget includes the possibility to grant funds which will contribute for the development of the sector. The tourist attractions and the cultural tourism connect many countries,” declared the Bulgarian minister and stated that tourism was a horizontal policy and depended on many other segments.

“Bulgaria is developing very well as a tourist destination. This sector is a main factor for the development of any country and it also influences the progress of the whole region,” commented the Deputy Director General of “Regional and Urban Policy” Department. “The development of the cultural tourism is of key importance for the progress of the sector and it is important to show who you manage it,” added Normund Popens. The two of them commented that good effect could be achieved with the development of various types of tourism. Minister Angelkova explained that Bulgaria offered a great variety of products with which we managed to attract visitors during all four seasons. “One of the projects, which we developed last year, is for 12 wine – cultural destinations which include food and wine traditional for each of the regions of the country , as well as visits to the local places of interest”, said the minister. “Thus we are popularizing the wealth of the regions and encourage visits into the interior of the country.”

“A considerable part of our regions are developing precisely thanks to tourism,” said Minister Angelkova in front of Gert Jan Koopman, General Director of “Budget” Department and gave as an example the municipality of Velingrad which had been declared the “SPA capital on the Balkans”. Velingrad uses the great resources of mineral waters on its territory and the fact that it has won recognition as a tourist destination is the main factor for the development of strong local economics. The minister also indicated that with the projects we were working on we hoped to direct the focus of the European Community even more in the direction of tourism within the next programming period.

Gert Jan Koopman congratulated Minister Angelkova for the efforts for the sustainable development of the sector. He commented that the economic progress of the regions had an indisputable effect on the progress of the Community.

“The Ministry of Tourism is working on a mechanism of using direct advertising towards the different markets in order to stimulate the organized tourism”, said the minister in front of Carles Esteva Mosso, Deputy Director General of “Competition” Department. “The aim of the project is to attract more visitors in the months of May, June and September which are the border months of the seasons. The idea is this project to be first launched for the Black Sea coast”.