Twelve ministers and deputy ministers have participated in the high-level meeting in the framework of the Congress on World Civilizations and Creative Tourism

Twelve ministers and deputy ministers of tourism and culture of Spain, Iraq, Greece, Moldova, Serbia, Malta, Kenya, Romania, Turkey, Azerbaijan discussed the important role modern tourism in the preservation and protection of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This happened in a high-level meeting held on the first day of the Congress on World Civilizations and Creative Tourism today in Sofia. The discussion was attended by the Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Michael Christides, the Jordanian princess H.D. Dana Firas, and the moderator was the CNN TV presenter Max Foster.The Bulgarian Minister Nikolina Angelkova commented that one of the main challenges in the revival of the world civilizations is how to preserve the sites while at the same time attract a larger number of tourists. “We discuss and search for alternatives both with Bulgarian and international institutions to find the best way to preserve what we have, because it has to remain in time, after us, for the future generations”, she also said.

Minister Angelkova focused on the joint activities with the neighbouring countries and the opportunity to develop joint tourist products. “This especially applies to long-distance journeys and tourists from China and the USA, so we work on various ideas”, added Nikolina Angelkova. In her words, common advertising and marketing of touristic products should be prepared on a local level.

All participants in the high-level meeting shared the opinion that tourism is a common product based on the cooperation between government institutions, private organizations and local communities. Tourism was also identified as a peace promoting instrument. Participants in the meeting commented that world civilizations should cooperate and events of this type prove this.

“We have a new level of communication, so we have to achieve a more in-depth knowledge of one another”, said the Jordanian princess H.M. Dana Firas and she added that the legacy must be transformed in a way that is understandable and beneficial for everybody.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister from the period 2001 - 2005 Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was also invited by the World Tourism Organization to take part in the meeting, described the communications and their modern aspect as a challenge for the tourism, which should be used to improve the results in the sector.

According to the Minister of Tourism of Kenya Najib Balala, today the tourists have new interests, they are not only interested in beaches, but want to learn more about the history of the country they visit. He also said that when undertaking a journey, people want to visit at least two countries, which obliges the neighbouring countries to develop mutual tourist products.

The Minister of Tourism of Malta Edward Lewis commented that the countries should not consider themselves as competitors in the tourist industry, rather the opposite, because when people visit a certain destination, they want to discover more cooperation and continuity. Lewis also commented that the coordination between the state authorities and the private sector is essential for the development of tourism. He also said that the countries of the Black Sea region should develop integrated offers. Edward Lewis drew the attention to Minister Nikolina Angelkova’s words that efforts are made on EU level, namely for the implementation of common concepts and products. The development of a digital tourist platform in the EU has also been considered.

The Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey Hussein Yaayman said that “no state has managed to survive on its own, it is the result of inherited culture and history”. He announced that the Turkish state has designated four guidelines for the development of the modern tourism - drawing up a list of tourist sites, integration of this type of tourism with other creative sectors, advertising and international partnership. He reiterated that Turkey is open for any kind of cooperation and commented that this is the way to revive the legacy of the world civilizations.

The Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities of Iraq Faryad Raundozi emphasized that categorical actions should be undertaken to stop the illegal trade with antiquities, because it is a major problem not only for Iraq but for all countries in the world.

The establishment of a common facade of the tourism by means of cooperation between the state and the private sector is the key for the development of the modern tourism as an opportunity to experience the legacy of world civilizations. This opinion was advocated by Mihaela Vrabete, State Secretary of The Ministry of Tourism of Romania. She added that targeted actions should be taken so that small local organizations be involved in the development of the tourist product.

The Director General of the Agency on Tourism of Moldova Stanislav Rusu commented that the authenticity should be preserved everywhere. This is particularly important for the modern tourism as a means for the revival of the world civilizations.

Michael Christides, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation underlined that tourism is the main pillar of the social economy and promotes better understanding of the cultural and historical heritage of the peoples.

11% of the gross domestic product of Spain is formed by tourism. This was announced by Jose Manuel Soria, former Minister of the Energy, Industry and Tourism of Spain. He added that nowadays culture is the most important element for the promotion of mutual understanding and for the promotion of tourism. The emphasis in his comment was that tourism, in order to be successful, should be identified as a government priority.

Nazim Samadov, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, said that today's tourists prefer to know as much as possible about the country they visit,  its history and culture. He also commented that synergy between the state and the private sector is essential for the successful development of the industry.

The representative of the National Tourist Organization of Serbia Maria Labovic commented that the improvement of the tourist product depends on attracting the local communities, because they know a lot, but sometimes are not aware of their role.

The Secretary General for tourism policy and development of Greece George Tziallas said that the common understanding in our neighboring country with regard to tourism is that it unites people. In this connection he said that it is necessary to develop alternative types of tourism and that it is necessary to make the diversification of tourist products because different people need different aspects of tourism.

The high-level meeting was closed with the speech of Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization. In his opinion, the states must be particularly careful in preserving the cultural heritage. The emphasis in his speech was that a mandatory condition for successful tourism is the existence of political will, because if the state authorities do not believe in this sector, nothing can be achieved.