Member of:
Language:
No booking fees!
FREE cancellation in most cases!
Bulgaria: Boosting demand
Sofia Echo, 12.04.2009
While Bulgaria’s tourism sector is already suffering from the financial crisis, the government has been quick to enact necessary measures to soften long-term impact.
Bulgaria too has taken various steps to increase tourism in the country.
Under the Operational Programme Regional Development 2007-2013, six projects have been approved that will fund SAT’s various campaigns. One campaign focuses on international tourists from Germany, Britain, and Russia, where there is much room for growth, primarily through advertisements on CNN and Eurosport channels. Another campaign, worth 5.7 million leva, focuses on winning back tourists who, recently, have preferred foreign destinations.
SAT is to spend six million leva to create a multi-media catalogue of the country’s most attractive tourist sites to attract visitors from both home and abroad.
In an effort to further attract tourists, Elena Poptodorova, the recently appointed ambassador to the Black Sea region, has focused on uniting bordering countries to increase regional tourism.
Much focus has, in particular, been placed on Russian tourists, who have been the main source of summer visitors in the past. Last year 250 000 Russian tourists visited Bulgaria, spending about 1000 euro a person.
Bulgaria opened a business forum in Moscow on February 5 titled "Bulgaria Today - Realty, Tourism and Wine". The business fair continued alongside official activities intended to mark the "Year of Bulgaria" in Russia. There is talk of the Bulgarian state covering visa prices for Russians, so as to reduce the costs of travel packages and therefore attract more tourists.
According to Nelly Sandalska, CEO of Balkantourist, this measure will cost the state eight million euro, but without such intervention, the number of Russian tourists to Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts is expected to shrink by 50 per cent.
In addition to government efforts, tourist resorts have been expanding the number of hotels and holiday apartments in anticipation of greater demand. Easyjet has recently added several flights from Manchester, according to an Easyjet spokesperson who commented on the city’s potential. These avenues of growth explain the World Travel and Tourism Council’s expectation that Bulgaria will attract about 16 million visitors a year by 2017. This increase should contribute to an increase of 12 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP), as well as create a 10.2 per cent increase in employment.
The political commitment and infrastructure growth will allow Bulgaria’s tourist industry to prosper in the long-term.
Touroperator
