Bulgaria and Balkan Countries to Work Together on Tourism Development
Sofia Echo Com, 12.06.2006
The Balkan Alliance of Hotel Associations (BAHA) held its first meeting from June 2 to 5.
Representatives from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey and Tunis gathered to discuss problems in the tourism sector in the region, Capital newspaper reported.
One of the ideas proposed during the forum was offering common tourism products like a 10 to 14-day trip in several Balkan countries. Another suggestion was negotiating a common minimum accommodation price.
The latest tendencies show that foreign tourists are interested in 'more than just sunny beaches' and prefer tour packages including trips to several countries with opportunities for cultural and festival tourism, Capital said. Balkan states usually specialise in sea, mountain, culture, urban, rural, spa or eco tourism and uniting these services into a single package would produce better financial results, Capital added.
Director of HORES, Serbia's hotel organisation, Branko Krivokapic said that common packages were especially beneficial for Serbia as the country lacked the natural resources to develop tourism.
Attracting larger number of tourists means that Balkan countries should work on improving the service quality and increasing prices. Vitan Ivanov from the Council of Tourism – Sofia said that low prices harmed Bulgaria's image abroad where it was advertised as Europe's cheapest destination.
The Alliance proposed the creation of tourism schools to improve the qualification of the workers in the sector. Other ideas include abolishing the visa regime for the Balkan countries and providing transport services to clients, de-monopolising the transport market.
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