Minister Angelkova: We are registering an 60% growth of Portuguese tourists

We are registering a 60% growth of tourists hailing from Portugal during the January-November period of 2017. This was announced by the Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Angelkova, during a work meeting with Manuel Caldeira Cabral, Portugal’s Minister of Economy, who is also responsible for tourism. The two Ministers conversed during the Global Economic Forum held in the Swiss town of Davos. Over 15 000 Portuguese tourists have visited Bulgaria during the first 11 months of last year, indicate NSI stats.

The topics of the meeting between Minister Angelkova and the Portuguese Minister of Economy also included the tourism cooperation between Bulgaria and Portugal. They shared the idea that the two countries could build on the good interaction by encouraging participation in tourism fairs, exhibitions, seminars, and events held in the other country, as well as get-to-know visits of media representatives for the purpose of promoting the destinations. It would be useful for us to exchange experience in the area of education and training curricula, as well as information about tourism development programs, which would encourage investments in the sector, stated Minister Angelkova. The two Ministers also discussed the opportunities of Portuguese experts holding trainings in the Centre for Training and Retraining of Tourism Staff, which is currently being set up. Minister Caldeira is expected to visit Bulgaria soon.

Single European tourism policies for sustainable economic growth were also discussed during the work meeting. Development of sustainable tourism is a major priority of the Ministry. The government of Bulgaria is creating conditions to attract more investments in the sector and is setting up partnerships, which accelerate tourism development in a safe environment, stated Minister Angelkova, adding that the objective of the Ministry of Tourism is not just to attract more investments in the sector but also to assert and build on Bulgaria’s image as a competitive destination offering a lot of entertainment and recreation year-round.