Minister Nikolina Angelkova has held a working meeting with Pansy Ho, the Vice President and Secretary General of the Global Forum for Tourism and Economy

Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova held a working meeting with Pansy Ho, Vice President and Secretary General of the Global Forum for Tourism and Economy. Mrs. Ho is also Vice President of the Chinese Chamber of Tourism, member of the management of the World Tourism and Travel Council, executive chairperson and managing director of the financial conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings Limited. They talked in the framework of the 22nd General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is held in the city of Chengtu, China. They discussed the prospects for the development of tourism in Bulgaria, as well as future mutual partnerships.

Minister Angelkova acquainted Mrs. Ho with projects currently developed by the country. One of them is the preparations of the 2nd edition of the International Congress on World Civilizations and Ancient Routes, which will be held at the end of next year. The Minister pointed out that the ministry and the government lead a consistent policy for the promotion of the country as a tourist destination in the four seasons. She explained that hard work is being done for the achievement of annual growth in the tourist sector and this is expected to become a sustainable trend.

Mrs. Ho congratulated Minister Angelkova for the choice to mark the initiative “2017 - International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development” with a postage stamp. She pointed out that this is an interesting and suitable way to emphasize the ideas of the international initiative.

The Global Forum for Tourism and Economy” will hold an event in October in the region of Macau, People's Republic of China (PRC).  Bulgaria will also take part in the forum. The focus of the event will be the promotion of regional tourism in the framework of the initiative 16+1, which includes the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China. The country will participate in the debate on the public-private partnership as well as with an information stand, which will display advertising materials of Bulgarian tourism.

The Global Forum for Tourism and Economy is a leading international platform for the promotion of sustainable development of the world tourist industry. The event is organized by the government of the Special Administrative Region of Macau with the support of the government of the PRC, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNESCO, the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC), the European Tourist Commission (ETC), the World Tourist Cities Federation (WTCF) and China Federation of industry and Trade (CFIT).  From its formation in 2012 to now, more than 7,000 people from over 63 countries, among which 54 delegations from various Chinese provinces and over 300 international speakers have taken part in the forum.