Minister Angelkova talks in Seville with Huyong Ge, Chairman of the Board of UnionPei International

03 April 2019

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova talks to Huyong Ge, chairman of UnionPay International. They held a work meeting within the 19th Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), held in Seville, Spain.

The China market is among the 50 leading destinations for inbound tourism in Bulgaria, it has great potential and it is important for us to encourage travel from this country, said Minister Angelkova. She said that various initiatives are being actively developed to support the development of bilateral tourist visits. We are currently working on the creation of the so-called common Balkan tourist itinerary, realized jointly by 11 countries in the region, intended specifically for distant and promising markets.

Last year, Chinese tourists to our country were ] more than 27,000, 3.7 percent growth from a year earlier. In the first two months of 2019, visits from China increased by 12.4% compared to the same months of the previous year.

The Minister also added that the first Bulgarian tourist information center for China was opened in the Shanghai metropolis in September 2017. She recalled that an agreement was signed with one of the leading tour operators in China at the beginning of the year - Hi Seas International. The document is the basis for the development of a public-private partnership to open Bulgarian tourist information centers in China.

We also have a very fruitful partnership with the Chinese city of Xian, said Minister Angelkova.

The focus of our work this year is to encourage investment in tourism, the Minister informed. This will also be the focus of an international forum to be held in Bulgaria at the end of May, said the Bulgarian Minister and invited Mr. Huyong Ge to attend the event. The two also discussed the possibility of signing a partnership agreement in the sector to support bilateral travel.

Bulgaria offers very good conditions for investment, Mr. Huyong Ge stressed. He added that the country is becoming more popular and recognizable in China.

UnionPay International is a subsidiary of China UnionPay. In partnership with more than 2000 institutions worldwide. UnionPay International allows cards to be accepted in 174 countries and regions with issuance in 52 countries and regions.

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