Minister Angelkova: The winter season is extended and the revenues for the first two months amounted to BGN 567 million.

We will have an extended winter season, perhaps by the end of April, and at the moment it goes very successfully. In total for the first two months of the winter - December and January, the revenues from the international tourism are close to BGN 567 million, an increase of over 15% compared to the same period last season. For the same months, the tourist visits by foreigners to Bulgaria amounted to almost 895,000, an increase of 17% compared to this period in 2016-2017. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova in the morning block of BTV.

Asked whether the complicated international situation would affect the tourists from Russia, she was adamant that, in the words of the head of the Federal Tourism Agency of Russia - Oleg Safonov, during their meeting in Moscow this month, Bulgaria would be a preferred destination for the Russians. With regard to other markets, the Minister Angelkova added that our country is becoming an increasingly competitive destination and for example the number of exchanged tourists between Greece and Bulgaria is almost equal.

The government is making a lot of effort for the attractiveness of the beaches and the cleanliness of seawater. Water treatment plans have been built or modernized in almost all resorts on the Black Sea coast, the Minister said. She announced that together with her colleague Nino Dimov they will again check how these facilities work and how the expansion and modernization of the treatment plant at the Golden Sands is going on.

Minister Angelkova paid attention that the concern about the beach stripes is among the main accents in the work of the department. There are clear rules on how to conduct the concession or rental procedures. These are competitions conducted under all rules. Laws must be respected and anyone can go to any beach to which pedestrian access should be provided, said Nikolina Angelkova.

We will continue with the inspections of possible irregularities on the beaches under the approved scheme and for the location of removable sites. We will continue to demand the removal of all irregularities, she said and reminded that at Sunny Beach-North such 190 sites have already been removed. This summer we will also work to have no stands in the streets of the resort located in front of pavilions in the private properties of hoteliers. Their commodities should not be placed on the street, but inside the pavilions, the Minister said.

Setting up a Unified Tourist Information System, she also stressed, is a priority for the Ministry since the second Borisov Cabinet. One and a half years ago appeals were filed by companies which did not even apply for a public procurement contract, and we have to wait for the court to complete the procedure, it became clear from her words. The tender committee is currently working on this matter and within a month and a half it shall pronounce its decision. If there are no appeals, the deadline as per the technical specification is 6 months and I hope the system will work by the end of the year, Nikolina Angelova predicts.