In the Russian Duma: Bulgaria is the best place to accept Russian tourists in 2016

25 February 2016

For the first time in 27 years, a Bulgarian Minister has spoken before the Russian Parliament

Bulgaria ranks first among destinations suitable to accept the Russian tourist flow in 2016, said Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Tourism Agency of Russia when presenting our country in the hearings in the State Duma Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in the presence of its First Deputy Chairman Ivan Melnikov.

The Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova was the only representative of a country in the region that had the opportunity to present our country as an attractive tourist destination. She was accompanied by the Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Tourism in the National Assembly Petar Kanev and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria in Moscow Boyko Kotsev.

Safonov and Melnikov emphasised that the measures taken by the Bulgarian Government to promote the tourist flow from Russia were visible and gave increasingly better results. The Head of Tourism in the Russian Federation paid great attention to this issue during his meeting with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Sofia, which was assessed as a clear declaration of the importance of Russian tourists for Bulgaria. The advantage of our country as a safe and peaceful destination was also taken into account. As a result of the intensive dialogue in the field of tourism between the two countries Nikolina Angelkova was invited to speak before the State Duma of Russia; such a hearing of a Bulgarian minister has not occurred for more than 27 years.

“The Russians are among the most numerous foreign tourists in the Bulgarian summer resorts and for us as an administration it is very important to create the best conditions and to stimulate more of their trips to our country”, said Minister Angelkova. She stressed that the Ministry of Tourism had consistently worked to promote the tourist flow between the two countries for more than a year. In this period, a number of travel incentives for the Russian tourists were introduced. “Russian citizens under 16 years of age who come for children’s and organised tourism to Bulgaria will receive free visas, various incentives are provided to property owners in Bulgaria and individuals who have resided in the country in the previous years.”, said Nikolina Angelkova. She added that working in this direction will continue together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Every effort has been made to issue visas at very short notice in order to respond to the interest in the so-called “Lastminute” holidays. Visas are issued in 21 dedicated visa application centres in the Russian Federation, procedures being accelerated as much as possible”, added the Bulgarian minister.

In her speech she stressed that Bulgaria was best known in Russia with the opportunities for summer vacations, but the country has much more to offer – mountain, SPA, religious and ecotourism, etc. “What makes us truly unique is the huge historical heritage located on our territory”, said Minister Angelkova while discussing some of the major sites and artefacts found in our country. She pointed out that “we are becoming an extremely attractive destination for Russian tourists because the history of our two nations is interconnected and in Bulgaria they can find many new, yet close to their culture, historical sites and artefacts”.

It was pointed out that as a special measure, entirely targeted at the Russian market, a telephone line providing information about tourism opportunities in our country became operative as of 1 February this year and can be used by Russian tourists – 0700 20 991. In the past year the presentation of our country in Russia was very active and the Ministry of Tourism participated in over 30 fairs, exhibitions and international meetings. Cooperation in tourism with administrations and businesses from the Russian regions was expanded.

This year an increased interest in Bulgaria has been observed – to date interest has been expressed by more than ten new companies requiring accreditation in our consular offices. For the upcoming season, an increased number of charter flights from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Perm, Chelyabinsk, Volgograd, Samara, and Ufa have been planned. The expectations of the business are that all this will lead to an increase in Russian tourists of about 20 to 30 percent during the upcoming summer season.

Hearings in the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation are conducted with the assistance of the Federal Tourism Agency and with the participation of MPs, representatives of ministries and sectoral organisations that are directly related to the tourism industry. The aim is to identify measures to increase the number of Russian tourists going to prospective and new tourist destinations such as Bulgaria, Morocco, Cuba, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and the Dominican Republic. In the hearings all stakeholders are involved.

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