Minister Angelkova meets the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu

As 2018 is expected to be announced the European Year of Cultural Heritage, this can be used to also promote tourism. This was discussed by Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Angelkova, and the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, during a meeting held in Strassbourg.

They both commented that this is another opportunity to deepen cooperation and promote tourism opportunities both among the EU countries, as well as within the Danube Strategy framework. Minister Angelkova informed Commissioner Cretu that Bulgaria is already developing joint tourism products with a number of countries included in the Strategy. „We have already taken specific steps and are partnering with a number of countries, with our collaboration with Romania being at a very advanced stage“, Minister Angelkova indicated. There are plans for the two countries to hold joint events to promote Bulgarian and Romanian traditions on distant markets and encourage mutual flow of tourists. Positive results are registered in this context, with nearly 680 000 Romanian tourists having visited Bulgaria during the first 7 months of 2016, which is a growth of nearly 18%. „Romania sustainably ranks first in terms of number of international tourists in Bulgaria, with a number of other Danube Strategy countries, such as Germany, Serbia, and Austria, also being of notable significance“, Nikolina Angelkova highlighted.

Corina Cretu emphasized that joint actions in the area of tourism and culture are very important for the entire Danube area and are essential to deepening the partnership. She added that the conference held in Russe during June this year is a good example of successful cooperation within the Strategy framework and has contributed towards outlining specific steps for development of tourism in the entire region. „The holding of such initiatives not only strengthens the Danube Strategy’s importance to the European Union but also helps improve coordination between individual countries Corina Cretu added.