Minister Nikolina Angelkova participated in the second panel of the event “The Impact of Tourism on the Development of a Country’s Infrastructure” together with the Minister of Tourism for the Kingdom of Morocco Lahcen Haddad, the Minister of the Economy of Portugal Antonio Pires, the Spanish Minister for Public Works Ana Pastor, the chairman of the organizing committee of the International Tourism Fair FITUR, Luis Gallego and the Spanish airline company IBERIA. „The infrastructure serves many sectors of the economy but when we invest in infrastructure for tourism we create greater value added” , said Minister Angelkova. According to the Minister, the tourism sector is a major generator of new jobs and employment; it includes mainly small and medium enterprises and is primarily export-oriented. Hence these investments bring even greater, indirect benefits. The participants in the panel supported her view and agreed that priority should be given to investments in the infrastructure which improve the conditions for tourism.      .

According to Minister Nikolina Angelkova better conditions should be created for regional cooperation in the tourism sector within the European Union, which in turn will improve the compatibility of the European tourist services and their access to perspective distant markets.

During the forum it became clear that in the last year, according to data of the World Tourism Organization, there has been a 14,8% growth in returns in the tourism sector worldwide. Spain registers the greatest growth of 7% which ranks her in 3rd place in terms of tourist visits and 2nd in revenues.

Minister Angelkova is currently on a visit in Spain for the opening of one of the biggest international tourism trade fairs FITUR`2015. The fair will be held from 28th January till 1st February 2015 at the Juan Carlos I Exhibition Center in Madrid.

Change in the concept of advertising Bulgaria as a year-round destination is one of the main aims of the Ministry; it became clear from the words of Angelkova. She reported that the positioning of our country in 2015 will focus on the cultural and historical routes, and on the specifics of winter and summer tourism, whose differences have never been emphasized.

The Minister announced that there will be also a change and the vision of national stands presenting Bulgaria to the international tourism exhibitions, as the focus will be placed on the specific cultural and historical routes that Bulgaria can offer to tourists.

Angelkova draw attention to the idea of the so-called "celebrity tours", in which famous persons will visit our country and promote our tourist attractions to the world. These ideas and opportunities will be discussed at the upcoming National Tourism Council, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks. The branch and all concerned  institutions will discuss the presentation of which specific routes and attractions  will be used to launch the plan for the new positioning of Bulgaria as a tourist destination.

Angelkova Minister expressed satisfaction from the busy winter resorts and small number of the administrative violations in the categorization of the tourist sites concluded by the control authorities.

Angelkova told the Members of Parliament that her team is working to clarify the legal status of national resorts as to target optimization of their management without making an impression that these are "feeders" of any governments. This will explain where the tourist tax collected by the municipalities would be allocated to ensure funds spending for tourist infrastructure. Regarding the clarification of the legal status of national resorts, Minister Angelkova said that the issue will be also discussed by the group of experts set up for that purpose to the National Tourism Council.

She recalled the idea of establishing a National Fund  for Tourist Infrastructure and Tourist Attractions  to finance  projects for infrastructure, water treatment plants, sign-plates,  which could not be funded thorough other sources.

The Minister said that talks with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affair have been already held in order to find out the best option for facilitating  the procedures for issuing  tourist visas, which meets  both the national and European legislation,  and  the national security as well. Angelkova said multiple-entry visas for Turkish citizens wishing to visit Bulgaria in the winter season have been already issued and the procedure takes three days if no additional information regarding the particular person is needed.

The Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova presented Marc Girardelli, a five-time World Cup overall champion in all five alpine disciplines, as her advisor for winter tourism. She also announced to the media the priorities of the separated ministry.

The first focus of our activities will be drawing up a sustainable national strategy on tourism. The purpose of this document is to stimulate sustainable tourism development and to reduce regional disparities by creating strong regional brands. Increasing the specialized types of tourism through advertising in target markets will be also aimed, said Angelkova. Improving the tourism infrastructure will be another important element of the strategy.

The Minister said that the status and structure of the future Tourism Infrastructure and Tourist

Attractions National Fund is currently being discussed together with the industry and the Ministry of Finance. The funds will be allocated for financing the important projects of public infrastructure, which could not be funded thorough other sources - resorts roads, water treatment plants, ecological facilities, sign-plates, and etc. The fund will be launched in 2016.

We are also working on the legal status of national resorts as we have defined measures for equal development of all types of tourism, for which Bulgaria has the potential, added Angelkova. She drew an attention to the best use of European funds and said that  a separate Directorate for programmes and projects will be established in the Ministry for that purpose. The Minister said that due to the cooperation with the Managing Authority in the MRD and the good pace of work, the implementation period of the delayed contracts under OP "Regional Development" has been extended, as the risk of loss of BGN 8 million has been already overcome. For the next programming period, the tourism can count on nearly EUR 1 billion provided by the EU operational programmes or other European programmes. The applications will be submitted on a competitive basis, so the municipalities and businesses should be maximum proactive, recommended the Minister. A manual of EC funding opportunities in the field of tourism will be published on the website of the Ministry: http://www.tourism.government.bg

Our main goal is positioning Bulgaria as recognizable and year-round tourist destination and its transformation into one of the best European tourist destinations, stressed Angelkova. It will be achieved by speeding up the work on the changes in the regulations, whose adoption was also delayed. The Minister said that first two ordinances to the Tourism Act -  an Ordinance on safety and information security on the ski slopes and the regulation for establishing a single system for tourist information (Estia) have been already  submitted to the business for coordination. The national tourist register to the Minister of Tourism is considered as of crucial importance to function as a unified platform for information and to collect the required data base for the sector, including information about the tourist attractions of the country.

A particular analytic unit within the Ministry will be focusing on more detailed analysis of the statistics to target a meaningful planning of marketing and promotional activities, it became clear from the words of Angelkova. She also announced the forthcoming set up of regional tourism departments of the Ministry in the country, including national representatives abroad for target markets, as in Beijing it will be together with Romania and will focus on distant markets.

Marc Girardelli, a five-time World Cup overall champion in all five alpine disciplines and the new  advisor  of Minister Angelkova, recommend a detailed analysis of the current state of  tourist infrastructure and the identification of Bulgaria in terms of domestic and foreign tourists. He highlighted the importance of excellent service to attract well-off clients as well as the activities to improve the security of tourists. The ski legend has been a great friend of Bulgaria for 10 years and will continue to promote worldwide its unique potential not only in mountain tourism, but also as a four season destination.

Data obtained upon the inspections, which the control authorities have made so far, were announced at the meeting. According to the Commission for Consumer Protection, over 90% of the tourist sites being checked up in Bankso have been categorized and met the relevant legal requirements. The Commission has issued only 56 acts for administrative violations ordering a temporary sites closure. The resort’s readiness is supported by the conclusions of Security Police and other institutions as the National Revenue Agency, the National Customs Agency, Construction Supervision, Automobile Administration, Fire Safety, and etc. The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency has inspected 201 sites and has issued 40 prescriptions, and only 9 acts for administrative violations, of which only 3 are related temporary closures. For the safety and health of tourists in Bansko, 2 teams of Food Agency and 15 ski patrols, as well as a permanent rescue team of Security Police will take care. Concessionaires assured that they are available to tourists and skiers will be provided with an emergency helicopter.

Angelkova told the audiences that on the new Ministry of Tourism home page http://www.tourism.government.bg a detailed information to help tourist has been already provided in the section "How do I ...“, where all hotlines and Internet addresses of control institutions, in case of need during the winter season, are listed. These data are incessantly available.

The industry representatives in their turn reiterated the need for timely changes in the regulations governing their activities in order to be able to work effectively. Angelkova clarified that two pressing ordinances for safety and information security of the ski slopes and the regulation on establishing a unified system for tourist information have already been under discussion.

Minister Angelkova assured the  businesses and institutions concerned by  the winter season, that their  regular meetings will be upcoming next months to ensure the smooth running of the season. A similar meeting in Pamporovo is subject to be held.

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Minister Ana Pastor has proposed options for promotion of Bulgaria in Spain as an opportunity to attract more tourists in the country, it became clear from the words of Minister Angelkova after her meeting with the Minister of Development of Spain. One of these options is to use Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport as a platform for the promotion of our country as a tourist destination. Bulgaria may be advertised by placing the image-visions on railway and bus stations in Spain, as well as on high-speed trains in Spain. The Spanish experience in the development of the package "tourist train", by which tourists are able to make trips intermittently to various tourist sites and cities in Spain within a month only with one ticket for train, was shared during the meeting.

Details of future advertising of Bulgaria as a tourist destination in Spain will be discussed at the meeting of the joint working group on cooperation in tourism, established under the signed in 2010 Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministries of Tourism of both countries, which will be held next year. Technical meetings between experts from both countries will be held to exchange information and best practices between institutions and leading tour operators from Bulgaria and Spain, as it was agreed by Minister Angelkova and Secretary of State for Tourism in Spain, Isabel Borrego.

Details of the implementation of strategic tourism practices by Spain and Spain's experience in the use of various mechanisms to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector were also discussed at the meetings.

Minister Angelkova invited   Secretary Borrego and Minister Pastor to participate in the upcoming forum of European Ministers of Tourism, for whose organization Bulgaria has already put a request to the European Commission. The meeting will be the first of its kind and is planned for mid-2015. Secretary Borrego and Minister Pastor accepted the invitation with satisfaction and appreciated the potential of Bulgaria as a year-round destination. Details of the forthcoming participation of our country in the forum "Tourism as an Economic Factor", which will be held on January 27, 2015 in Spain, were also reviewed.

The old version of the website of the Ministry of Economy and Energy will be archived and available.

The new websites of the three ministries are under current construction, and the appropriate information to the relevant departments is to be updated.

Website of the Ministry of Economy:http://www.mi.government.bg

Website of the Ministry of Energy:http://www.me.government.bg

Website of the Ministry of Tourism:http://www.tourism.government.bg

“It is important to have a clear vision and a particular roadmap for the future development of our tourist industry, as it is one of our main priorities” Angelkova highlighted. The strategic document should be ready by the end of 2015 to enable the Ministry to be included as a beneficiary in the allocation of EU funds over the next years.

The meeting also discussed the possibilities of creating special financial instruments for the tourism industry. According to Angelkova, it is necessary to identify all the possibilities to support the initiatives of the business and not just rely on direct EU funding.

I invited Commissioner Creţu in Bulgaria at a roundtable organized to discuss in details these opportunities, said Minister Angelkova. EU Commissioner Corina Creţu supported the idea next year Sofia to host the first meeting of European ministers of tourism. Representatives of the World Tourism Organization to the United Nations, as well as ministers of other countries will be invited to participate in the forum.

Earlier today, Minister Angelkova met in Brussels the Vice-President of the European Commission Kristalina Georgieva. They discussed the specifics of financing in the field of tourism and how Bulgaria to be maximum promoted as a year-round tourist destination with a unique nature and specific features - spa and spa services, and other bioproducts. Kristalina Georgieva also warmly welcomed the establishment of the independent Ministry of Tourism to promote sustainable development of the sector.

The Commission for Consumer Protection acting as a supervisory authority in the sector carried out 3300 inspections in Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo last year, where only 56 orders for sites closures were issued. There are minor violations in relation to the lack of sites categorization or permissions for tour operator activities, which means that the business operates in compliance with the rules, said the Minister.  Angelkova added that 26 employees of the Security Police will work in three shifts during the winter season in Borovets to ensure public order and security of tourists. The respective organization required for maintenance of the road infrastructure and snow removal has been made, as well as fire safety has been ensured. The Health Inspectorate and Bulgarian Food Safety Agency have already received consumers’ signals on the hotlines announced on their websites. The  Ministry of Tourism will provide a  special spot and on its website, where the information will be summarized in such a  manner that any tourist will be able to quickly and easily get in touch with the relevant supervisory authority and to alert, as well as to obtain  the required information.

The conversations held with the industry showed that most of the problems in the sector have resulted from the need for legislative changes that should be made both in the Tourism Act and the regulations thereto, stressed Angelkova. The amendments to the ordinance on safety and information security of ski slopes and the operation of  ski patrols , as well as in the regulation of the capacity of the ski teachers are being drafted, which  is done  in a dialogue with business and other ministries in order to  enable documents to be in force calculated form next season. The Minister also stressed that the ordinance for categorization of accommodation and catering is now outdated, and one of its problems is that puts  the  business in unequal circumstances, because the small family sites as well as the  large hotels are categorized under the same requirements.

One of the important tasks of the new ministry is to make so as to eliminate the formal separation of the seasons in order to turn our resorts into year-round ones, which is related to a higher quality and variety of services, it became clear from the words of Angelkova. She welcomed the idea that the tourist sites will offer more products of their own production to stimulate Bulgarian and native companies. This and other problems in the tourism are associated with many sectoral policies, which requires joint efforts not only among ministries, but also with the industry, said Angelkova. She pointed as an example the outstanding legal status of national resorts, which impedes attracting more investors and tourists in the country - a subject, which has been already worked on actively; as well as establishing a fund for tourism infrastructure to finance the necessary infrastructure to resorts or tourist sites, such as transport, environmental and etc.

The meeting regarding the readiness of Borovets for  2014-2015 winter season was attended  by the  District Governor of Sofia Rositsa Todorova, representatives of the NRA, the National Construction Control Directorate (NCCD), the Automobile Administration, the  Border, Security and Criminal Police;  The National Customs Agency, Fire Safety, Road Infrastructure, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, the Commission for Consumer Protection,  Regional Health Inspectorate, tourism associations and others. Such meetings will be held in Pamporovo and Bansko.

The latest data provided by the NSI indicated that nearly 7 million foreign tourists visited Bulgaria last year or it was a growth of 5.6% within the period January-October 2014, which is above the European average. Minister Angelkova has set out for diplomats the structure of the new ministry and the key focuses in its policy in respect of feasibility of more visits and revenue rise in the sector, which forms nearly 15% of GDP of the country.

The new ministry plans to open representatives in various countries in order to promote there the advantages of Bulgaria as a tourist destination. "You are friends of Bulgaria and the fact that you are a kind of ambassadors of our country in your countries, helps us to turn Bulgaria into a  better known destination for four seasons," Angelkova said expressing hope the meetings between the diplomats to become a regular event.

The Minister stressed the importance of a set of factors that affect the Bulgarian image - convenient transport and infrastructure links, more flexible visa regime, more active legislative initiative to promote business and investment, accelerating the development of infrastructure projects through financing funds, the best use of EU funds under the operational programs, and etc. These are all topics that we have been actively working, and talks on establishing a fund for infrastructure projects in tourism have already been made.  Angelkova also said that the ministry will register the tourist sites and attractions and will coordinate with business the status of national resorts so that to be able to plan their attendance objectively and to raise revenues. Meetings regarding the readiness of our resorts for the 2014/15 winter season are scheduled for this week.

She pointed out the importance of the Danube Strategy for sustainable tourism development in the Balkans and Bulgaria's readiness to develop and offer joint products with its neighboring countries, which will attract visitors from distant markets. In turn, diplomats raised the issue of facilitating the procedures for issuing visas and the need for more direct flights to the country. They stressed that joint efforts are needed to make Bulgaria a popular destination abroad. It has been highlighted the huge natural, cultural and historical richness and abundance of mineral springs, which Bulgaria has, but unfortunately this potential has not been well known abroad yet.