The Ministry of Tourism presented a single interactive platform and a mobile application “I love Bulgaria”

Our country already has a single platform and “I love Bulgaria” mobile application, which integrates all elements of the tourism sector. The innovative product was presented today by Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova and representatives of the English technology company Horizon Software Solution that has developed the platform.

“As you know, the digital marketing is the focus of our national advertising programme and the platform that we present today offers some of its most innovative components”, said Minister Angelkova. The platform can be downloaded as a mobile application on any smart phone. “This platform integrates all elements of the tourism sector in one place - tourist sites, accommodation facilities, catering establishments and any accompanying services”, said Minister Angelkova. In her words it includes the 100 national tourist sites according to the  commitment to the Ministry of Tourism. The project product was first launched in two regional versions for Dobrich and Varna. Today they are a part of the national platform and many other municipalities will be included. It is agreed that the application will be free of charge for the municipalities.

“Today we start placing special boards at each site, which can be scanned through the mobile phones of the tourists and thus they will be able to learn more information about them,” explained Nikolina Angelkova. Each plate has a unique hologram - the so called QR code, which can be scanned with a mobile device. This way the tourist receives information about the site he has visited, but also gains bonus points and may receive an incentive award. The world experience showed that this motivates people to travel more and evokes greater interest according to the platform developer.

“It is very important to point out that both the platform and the information about each of the sites is currently available in 12 languages and that it has the potential to present the information in unlimited number of languages in the long term”, underlined the Minister of Tourism. For better planning of the marketing activities of the ministry, it is very important for each user, who downloads the application, to be registered in the system. “This way we will gather very accurate information about the tourists who visit Bulgaria - which important markets they come from, what they look for and which sites they visit, which will allow us to plan marketing campaigns targeted by nationality, gender, age etc.”, she further explained.

The developer has already received orders for the development of similar platforms for other countries, but Bulgaria is the first country, whose platform includes so many components, it was pointed out in the event. At the moment Horizon Software Solutions develop I Love France, I Love Monaco and I Love Australia and according to plans the number of countries that will join the platform in the next year is expected to reach 50. The agreement between the developer and the Ministry of Tourism includes launching the platform at a national level and its marketing servicing, as well as the opportunity to include the municipalities free of charge for them.