Minister Angelkova: This is the strongest half-year period for the Bulgarian touristic sector

This has been the strongest half-year period for the Bulgarian tourism in the last 10 years in view of the number of tourists, who visited the country. For the period January - June 2016 we welcomed over 100 thousand foreign citizens. The rate compared to the same period in the last decade varies from 18% (in 2014) to more than 60% (in 2007). This was announced by the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova in the “Hello, Bulgaria” TV broadcast on Nova TV.

“The summer season started very well and for the month of June we have an increase of 28% and serious growth in many tourist generating markets”, said Minister Angelkova. Among them are Romania (44%), Germany (62%), Russia (18%), Ukraine (22%), Great Britain (18%), Poland  (177%), Czech Republic (92%), Israel (41%), France (38%), Hungary (49%), Austria (76%) etc. „We hope that this trend will continue and the summer will confirm the first half-year rate”, she further said.

The new module, which is already available on the website of the Ministry of Tourism, was also promoted in the TV studio. In it every tourist can check the prices of the beach accessories on the Bulgarian beaches.  “At the moment, the concession holders and the tenants are not obliged to submit information about the prices of the beach accessories, so some discrepancies may occur on spot. With the amendments of the law and the new methods of determining the minimum concession remuneration, however, we introduce a requirement for basic prices of the beach accessories at the initial stage of applying and their observance will be controlled”, said Minister Angelkova. According to her words, this will significantly reduce the price of sunbeds and parasols on the beach.

At the moment the module contains information about more than 90 beaches either rented out or granted under a concession agreement and the user can see the beach name and the price for 1 pc. parasol and 1 pc. sunbed. The work on the module is in progress and all remaining beaches will be reflected on the map. The ambition of the Ministry of Tourism is to upgrade the module by adding pictures of the beach strips, additional information of the services offered on them etc. Forthcoming is also the development of the Englis version, so that the foreigners may get an idea of the beaches and make a choice.  A real map was used for the application, which makes it a useful tool not only for giving information about prices, but also as an illustration of the beaches located in the proximity.

Next to the beach map there is a box, which provides guidance to the tourists as to where and how to report if they spot irregularities on the beach. This can be made by dialing 02/ 904 68 33 or to the e-mail: control@tourism.government.bg. Minister Angelkova announced that there have been over 200 received signals so far and the ministry has promptly responded to them. A lot of the signals are not directly related to the beach management or are within the competence of other institutions and were promptly forwarded to them. The Ministry of Tourism also has a mobile inspection group operating along the Black sea coast.