Minister Prodanov: The German tourism industry is interested in a combined product in Bulgaria - a good experience with health care

Germany is a priority tourist market for Bulgaria. Before the Coronavirus crisis, German tourists reached 1 million a year and were the third largest group after Romania and Greece. Our country is known as a seaside destination, but we have potential for winter, cultural, spa and rural tourism. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism Hristo Prodanov during a meeting with Claudia Müller, Commissioner for Tourism of the Federal Government and Member of the Bundestag.

He stressed that Bulgaria ranks third in Europe in terms of cultural and historical landmarks and second only to Iceland in the presence of mineral springs. “The Bulgarian SPA Association has signed a contract with the German Association of Health Insurance Funds and our wish is to offer this service to more health insurance funds in order to reach more Germans,” the minister added.

During the meeting were discussed the advantages of the Bulgarian winter resorts, which are not inferior in quality to the Austrian resorts and offer a good price for the service. “We have very good and healthy Bulgarian cuisine and more than 200 wineries with quality wine at a good price and all this we want to provide to the German citizens, the minister added.

According to Commissioner Müller, there is great interest in this type of tourism in Germany. Moreover, the capacity of their resorts is not sufficient and they cannot provide service to all Germans in need. Opportunities for the development of cruise tourism between the two countries on the Danube were also discussed.

Minister Prodanov was on a working visit to Germany with the Bulgarian MPs Dr. Ilin Dimitrov, Chairperson of the Committee on Tourism, and Snezhana Apostolova - Deputy Chairperson of the Committee. Minister Prodanov and Ilin Dimitrov invited Commissioner Müller for an official visit to Bulgaria. The purpose of the visit is to assure the German side that Bulgaria is a safe destination and offers a quality complex tourism product.

A meeting was held in Berlin with the President of the German Travel Association (DRV) Norbert Fiebich and the General Manager Dirk Inger. According to the Association, the desire of German tourists to travel to safe and friendly countries like Bulgaria has increased. “There is fake news that Bulgaria is close to military action. This is one of the reasons why I am in Germany to assure our German guests that the situation in Bulgaria is extremely calm and secure,” Minister Prodanov said.

According to him, the Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria will again ensure the safety of tourists, and this year the police will be increased in the resorts.

Part of the agenda of the delegation was a round table with representatives of the tourism industry in Germany. Bulgaria’s marketing campaign to attract tourists from Germany was presented at the meeting and future work with German tour operators was discussed. The tourism industry is interested in the possibilities of a combined product in Bulgaria - a good experience with health care, which is not known enough on the German market.