Representatives of EDEN destinations in Bulgaria held a second, final meeting

The project to promote EDEN destinations in Bulgaria contributes exceptionally to both their promotion on the domestic and international market, and also to their sustainable development. This opinion was shared by the representatives of EDEN destinations in our country during their second and final work meeting. It was attended by experts from Belitsa, Kardzhali, Sapareva Banya, Lukovit, Kavarna, Sandanski, and Kyustendil. „EDEN is another opportunity to present Bulgaria at a high European level”, the project manager said, adding that sustainability of the destinations and good conditions for their development were created via the project.

It was made clear during the discussion that the project videos presenting the 12 Bulgarian EDEN destinations were highly popular among the general public. A translation query was received even for Chinese, it was announced by the Ministry of Tourism. The project manager announced that EDEN destinations were consistently presented to representatives of diplomatic missions in our country and during international level meetings. 9 videos for the individual destinations and 1 aggregate one were made within the project’s framework. These were also disseminated via the Ministry of Tourism’s online channels.

Three familiarization tours with bloggers from Romania, Germany, and Bulgaria were held during the project. Sofia-Kyustendil-Melnik-Sandanski-Belitsa-Sapareva Banya-Sofia was the itinerary for our neighboring-country guests and Bulgarian bloggers, while the German travel bloggers were captivated by the beauty of Vratsa, Belogradchik, and Lukovit. The representatives of EDEN destinations in Bulgaria and the experts of the Ministry of Tourism commented that all bloggers published their articles shortly after visiting and that they were active with posts and photos as early as their journeys. The meeting attendees concluded that such activities are the best way to feel the spirit and traditions of a given settlement.

Monthly issuance and dissemination of a bulletin about the Bulgarian EDEN destinations, updating of an image flyer, banners, posters. Each destination was presented at national and international tourism exchanges, such as TTR, the biggest exhibition in Romania, ITB in Berlin, Vacation and Spa EXPO, and Green Days in Sofia, etc.

The representatives of Bulgarian EDEN destinations shared their experiences with each other and exchanged ideas about the sustainable development of each destination. Dedicated questionnaires were filled in at the work meeting’s end, where all attendees reflected their recommendations and opinion about the benefits from the project and how it should be developed and built on going forward.

There are 12 EDEN destinations in Bulgaria. They were selected in the course of 3 national excellent tourism destination competitions on the following themes: culture tourism, protected territories, and water tourism. These are: Belogradchik, Lukovit, Vratsa, Silistra, Kavarna, Strandzha natural park, Kardzhali, Kazanlak, Belitsa, Sandanski, Sapareva Banya, and Kyustendil.

The awarded Ministry of Tourism project for Communication Campaign to the Bulgarian EDEN destinations – second edition“ is worth EUR 69 088 and is funded by European Commission’s COSME 2014-2020 program. The campaign framework includes the making of advertising-informational materials, presentation of preselected national and international tourism exhibitions and exchanges, arrangement of familiarization tours, etc.

EDEN - European Destinations of Excellence is an initiative of the European Commission promoting models of sustainable development of tourism across the European Union. The initiative enhances the popularity of emerging European destinations, creates a platform for exchange of best practices Europe-wide, and encourages networking among awarded destinations.