The Minister of Tourism Angelkova at a roundtable in Burgas: “In October, we will present the approved by the branch and the local government wine-culinary destinations”

We will use the trademark "Share Bulgaria" to promote the project on the international exchanges

We developed the wine-culinary destination project in order to establish Bulgaria as recognizable for year-round tourism. With their support, we will direct the attention of tourists to our main services - winter and summer tourism, as well as to the other types of tourism that the country can offer. We plan in October, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forest, to present the approved by the branch and the local authorities wine-culinary destinations. This was announced by the Minister Nikolina Angelkova at the fourth roundtable under the project, which was held in Burgas. She said that once finalized, they will be included in the Annual National Tourism Promotion Program for the next year. The wine-culinary destinations are envisaged to be added to the various brochures and leaflets that promote the country. They will be digitized and added to the iLoveBulgaria platform.

The forum was attended by Dimitar Nikolov, Mayor of Bourgas, Krassimir Koev, Executive Director of the Executive Agency for Vine and Wine, representatives of the tourism and wine business and MPs. The event is part of the second stage of the project "Share Bulgaria", which envisages the creation of the destinations. The concept includes 12 wine-culinary destinations that pass through the territory of the whole country. They involve more than 50 municipalities and more than 100 tourist sites, said the Minister of Tourism Angelkova. She pointed out that through public discussions we want to help businesses and local communities to enrich and upgrade the concept of destinations in order to create a comprehensive and useful product that will assist the tourism and agribusiness, and thus the development of the region. We already have a trademark and a logo "Share Bulgaria", which will help promote the project and present the country as a place for a variety of tourist products, said the Minister Angelkova. She added that it could be provided to the municipalities to use it to promote their cultural and historical heritage and the food and drink typical for the regions.

The Minister urged all interested parties to submit proposals for destinations to create a useful and working project which to support the activities of businesses, the municipalities and the ministry and to contribute fully to the tourism development.

At the height of the summer, I want to say that the data for Burgas region are very positive, the Minister said. Between January and June 2018, the number of people staying in the accommodation with 10 or more beds was increased by 10% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching nearly 480 000. The overnight stays were over 2.48 million, an increase by 10%. Revenues from the overnight stays were over BGN 112.6 million, recording an increase by 7.8% compared to January-June 2017. Almost every second tourist who stayed in the accommodation with 10 or more beds in the whole country for the period January - June 2018, has chosen a 4- and 5-star hotel.

The total number of persons in the accommodation with 10 or more beds in the whole country was more than 3.165 million, of which in the 4 and 5 stars hotels were over 1.63 million. Both indicators show an increase by 6.8% and 8.5% over the same period last year. This proves that the country is increasingly recognized as a destination offering high quality tourism at a reasonable price, said Minister Angelkova. She also pointed out that this is thanks to the joint efforts and the teamwork between the state institutions, the local government and the business.

This summer season we also expect about 5% increase of the foreign tourist visits compared to the last year, the Minister said. She expressed the hope that the rainy weather in July did not have a tangible effect, which will become clear from the statistics to be published at the end of the month.

On the questions of journalists before the start of the event, the Minister commented that she will today file a lawsuit for defamation following the attempts to involve her name and the name of the institution in relation to possible criminal offenses on the occasion of the speech of the former Deputy Minister of Tourism Branimir Botev. It is quite ridiculous to make such absurd statements bordering on the sanity, Minister Angelkova said definitely. She added that it is absolutely unacceptable to undermine the prestige of the institutions and make suggestions. This is very damaging to the image of tourism, she said. I do not think that a person who has worked for Bulgarian tourism can have such attitude to its achievements in order to attract media attention, said the Minister on the occasion of the opinion expressed by the former deputy minister of tourism.