Bulgaria’s tourism had a good start in 2016 after several years of decline, the Chairman of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association Blagoy Ragin told Radio Bulgaria. This was mainly due to the conflict between Turkey and Russia, the multiple terrorist attacks in Turkey, etc. Experts from the tourism sector forecast that Bulgaria would benefit from the redirection of thousands of Russian tourists from Egypt to other alternative tourist destinations. The number of Turkish citizens visiting Bulgaria increased with 30% and the number of guests from neighboring Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania has been traditionally high since the start of 2016. Moreover, the number of Bulgarian citizens who preferred to stay in Bulgaria during their holidays and left their money in the local economy has been on the rise and we would like to thank them for their decision, Blagoy Ragin said and added:

“Spa tourism has been running at the highest gear recently. That subsector flourished in the past 10 years or so. Apart from the traditional Spa destinations such as Velingrad, Sandanski, Hisar and Pomorie, some new Spa resorts such as Devin, Kyustendil and Varshets have been gaining momentum. That is why we tabled for a discussion the issue regarding the money spent on advertising. We insist that we must spend at least 1% of the turnover in the tourism field to advertise our tourism abroad, because our international partners contend that poor advertising and the negative message we sent to the world is our biggest weakness. That problem has been lasting for many years and we really hope that optimism and positive attitude will prevail over negative emotions and pessimism in the future, because no foreign guest would stay in a family where negative emotions prevail. I believe that we would find a common ground with the Parliament Budget Committee, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism and the Bulgarian Municipalities.”

In Blagoy Ragin’s view, tourism can become an engine of growth and help sectors such as agriculture develop, too. On May 15 the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food signed in the city of Varna a partnership agreement. The main purpose of that agreement is to position the local traditional product well and allow the foreign guests to notice the advantages of the Bulgarian cuisine, because that country is situated in a geographical region with the most fertile soil and the biggest variety of herbs, but unfortunately few people abroad know that fact, Blagoy Ragin went on to say.

After the multiple terrorist attacks in neighboring Turkey many Bulgarian citizens who used to spend their holidays there headed towards Greece, or preferred to stay in Bulgarian Spa hotels.

“Many owners of hotels along the Bulgarian seaside started to offer spa services in their hotel complexes. They intend to expand the tourist season or even to make it year-round, as in Albena, Pomorie, Varna and Sunny Beach. The local winter resorts also started to develop recreational tourism, in order to make their business function all year-round. The good news is that most Bulgarian winter resorts are situated in close proximity to mineral springs and the combination between fresh air, mineral water and mountain is perfect for our local and foreign guests. In my view, that model will continue to gain popularity in the Balkans.”

The Bulgarian hotel owners must persuade the airlines to offer a greater number of low cost flights to Bulgaria. Thus, the tourist season would expand, Blagoy Ragin contends. The local hotel keepers are also planning to attract more Bulgarian and foreign guests through financial bonuses for given services such as SPA service, amusements and tourist trips. That strategy turned successful in countries such as Croatia, Turkey and Greece. There are excellent facilities in Bulgaria’s tourism, but we are struggling to keep Bulgarian personnel in that country, because of the low wages in tourism, Blagoy Ragin further said and added:

“We train the personnel and later most people depart to Europe in search of a better remuneration. There is a serious shortage of high-qualified personnel in Bulgaria’s tourism sector. We are working together with the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science and with the Committee on Education and Science in the National Assembly on the re-qualification and training of personnel in the tourism field and on the use of EU funds for that purpose. We insist that people from the Bulgarian diaspora in Moldova and Ukraine must receive work permits for at least five to six months, so they can work throughout the whole active tourist season”, Blagoy Ragin concluded.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov