Minister Angelkova held a work meeting in Golden Sands with leading tour operators

15 July 2019

The excellent results of the last years will be confirmed if, in the difficult 2019, together we convincing our partners in the potential of a Bulgaria destination  

 

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelova held a work meeting with representatives of leading tour operators in the Golden Sands Resort. In addition to taking an actuale picture of the situation on the different tourist markets and outlining measures to attract organized tourists in the late booking segment and the "last minute" for summer 2019, the meeting also discussed the preparation of the forthcoming summer 2020 season, which is usually done a year earlier.

The purpose of the discussion is in an operational format to see what we have as bookings and reservations and what we have set for the next season. We will consolidate the excellent results of the last years if, in this difficult year, we can jointly convince our partners about the potential of a Bulgaria destination, the Minister said.  

Forecasts show declines in some markets. That 2019 will be challenging and there will be a battle for every tourist in the region, we warned at the beginning of the year, Minister Angelkova noted. After three years of joint work, which saw very high growth rates in tourism, we are counting on concrete actions to justify the big expectations for the Bulgarian tourist product, Minister Angelkova said.  

Participants in the conversation reaffirmed the picture with the strong competitive environment of countries in the region that lead a massive policy for returning tourists by direct subsidizing charter programs. 

As an EU member, Bulgaria can not afford subsidies, but ways to support organized tourism are being sought. The Minister reminded that the department has commissioned an analysis of the authoritative Ernst & Young company, and even the most conservative version of it shows an excellent effect for local economies and the state of attracting more tourists. The analysis will be presented for public discussion in a short timeframe and with the mechanisms adopted, we will give a clear signal to our partners. Minister Angelkova remarked that the focus should now be on promoting early registrations for 2020..

In addition, in the Tourism Act, we have made changes to the status of the national resorts that will determine the activities and responsibilities on their territory. Despite the decline of youth tourism in some of our major resorts like Sunny Beach and Golden Sands from the last year, we have to develop the youth segment and attract young people as a trend.

Minister Angelkova assured that good practices for expanding the wings of active seasons through higher employment during May, June and September will be promoted, which is essential for tourist services along the Black Sea coast. She pointed out that the proposals were made after analyzing the positive experience of other countries in this regard, including Greece, Croatia and others.                                                                    

The business drew attention to the need to spend more on advertising the destination. She also noted that the funds should be targeted to promote the tour operator activity. Target-oriented advertising is also our focus, the Minister said, emphasizing the importance of identifying the exact targets in this activity.

 

At the moment hotels and tour operators are pending. By the end of August the flight programs should be made, said Grigor Fidanov of "Hotel-Management Company" Ltd. He also focused on ways to show Bulgaria's potential to the dicision makers so that they could help the country's image.

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