The Forum in Israel, which Presents Bulgaria's Tourism Potential, Is Taking Place with Great Interest

The Bulgarian-Israeli Business Forum was held in Tel Aviv in the B2B format, with exceptional interest from the Israeli business community. Over 50 Israeli tour operators and 12 representatives of the Bulgarian business took part in the event on 16 May. The delegation from Sofia is led by the Deputy Minister of Tourism Prof. Mariela Modeva. During the forum the representatives of the Bulgarian tourism business presented the opportunities for sea and winter tourism in Bulgaria, with the main focus on the spa and wellness and specialized forms of tourism.

During the visit Prof. Modeva held a meeting with Tali Laufer, Executive Director of the Israel Association of Travel Agents and Consultants.

‘Bulgaria offers an extremely diverse palette of opportunities for year-round tourism. There is still untapped potential in a number of niches, which could lead to an increase in bilateral tourism flow,’ Deputy Minister Modeva said.  

In recent years, Bulgaria has built an extremely modern and competitive base in the field of SPA tourism, which is considered one of its greatest advantages in the industry.

‘We are second in number of mineral springs in Europe after Iceland and recently we have witnessed many successful investment ventures in this area,’ said Prof. Modeva. She assured Laufer that Israeli guests are welcome in our country, which is hospitable, safe and offers excellent value for money.

‘We will do a study on additional possibilities to promote targeted trips,’ Tali Laufer said.

Part of Professor Modeva's program was a meeting with representatives of the academic community of Ben-Gurion University. She spoke with Associate Professor Dr. Amir Shani of the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at Ben-Gurion State University in Negev /Educational and Research Centre for Tourism Management Training/. The main focus of the talks was the intensification of the policy of personnel exchange in the sector. During the meeting the good practices and opportunities for exchange of students and lecturers as well as for joint implementation of projects within the European university networks were discussed.

‘Bulgaria has an excellent and rich experience in organizing large-scale events in the field of winter sports, has great winter resorts that enjoy an excellent reception in the Israeli market,’ said Prof. Modeva and stressed that our country can provide successful practices and development policies in a number of areas of tourism.