Minister Angelkova met with the Minister for Europe and International Affairs for the state of Baden-Württemberg Peter Friedrich and with the Parliamentary State Secretary Iris Gleicke

During one of the world’s biggest international travel exhibits ITB Berlin (4-8 March), the Bulgarian Minister received high-level state support for the upcoming meeting of the Ministers of Tourism which is to be held in Sofia on 8-9^th June.  Peter Friedrich, Minister for the Bundesrat, Europe and International Affairs and the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Iris Gleicke expressed their commitment to the initiative.

Developing transnational tourist products, finding new funding possibilities and ways for investing in tourism as well as creating a network of observatories for the development of sustainable tourism in Bulgaria will be some of the major topics at the meeting of the Ministers of Tourism in Sofia on 8^th-9^th June. 

The observatories are created in cooperation with academic and scientific centers. Students and professors are involved in the monitoring of a certain range of indicators, observing the methodology of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which is also the control body for the project. The received data is then used to research the trends and the outlined measures for improving the tourist product of a given country.  The network will also be used in the development of the Danube brand – the creation and digitalization of transnational tourist products will help countries from the Danube region to reach distant Asian and overseas markets.

During ITB Berlin, Minister Angelkova also took part in the steering group for the priority regions in the Danube strategy where cooperation between Bulgaria, the countries from the Danube region and the UNWTO was once again a main topic of discussion.  Bulgaria was also presented at the traditional Danube Salon exhibit organized by the state of Baden-Württemberg.

At an informal meeting between Minister Angelkova, the Minister for Europe and International Affairs for the state of Baden-Württemberg Peter Friedrich, the Minister of Trade, Telecommunications and Tourism of Serbia Rasim Ljajić and the ambassadors of the Danube countries to Germany was discussed the IV Annual Forum for the EU Strategy for the Danube Region which will be held in October in Ulm, Germany.

ITB Berlin is the biggest tourist exhibit in Europe and over the past decades it has become a key event for the world tourist branch industry. Each year the exhibit is visited by over 170 000 people and about 113 000 of them are professionals from the tourist business sector.