Minister Angelkova meets Hotrec’s CEO

30 June 2017

The Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Angelkova, met Kristian Baran, CEO of the European Association of Hotels, Restaurants, and Cafes (Hotrec), in Belgrade. The conversation took place during the Conference on Sustainable Development of Tourism in the Danube Region: New Perspectives.

Nikolina Angelkova pointed out that the Ministry is making consistent efforts to promote Bulgaria as a year-round destination and attract higher-end tourists. Comprehensive measures are being put into place jointly with businesses for the sector’s sustainable development and for upgrading the quality of the tourism services marketed.

We are convinced that the legislative amendments we initiated will reduce the administrative burden for the businesses – such as, the idea of removing the re-categorization of accommodation facilities and catering establishments, with some of their documents being collected ex-officio, the Bulgarian Minister commented. She further announced that discussions are ongoing about the option of categorizing accommodation facilities en masse, rather than categorize each facility.

Minister Angelkova also informed that work is being done to set up a tourism inspectorate at the institution, which would enhance the quality control. Arrangements will be put in place to take away categorization stars if nonconformities are found, as well as mandatory in-situ inspection once every three years as to how the tourism operation statutes are complied with.

It was announced during the meeting that the active summer season had gotten off to a good start, with strong results being anticipated – at this stage the projections are for 7-10% more international tourists compared to last year. During 2016, the record-breaking year for Bulgarian tourism, the country was visited by some 8, 2 million international tourists, an over 16% growth compared to 2015, Minister Angelkova stated.

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