Minister Angelkova and Commissioner Kretsu agree to organize a joint conference on tourism development in the Danube region

Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova met in Brussels with the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Kretsu. The two agreed to organize the next year a joint conference of the Danube countries to discuss the opportunities for tourism development in the region and the sector partnership under the Danube Strategy.

“Tourism is the main pillar of Danube region economies, which last year were visited by over 120 million tourists generating an income of over 70 billion Euros. This is the fundament upon which we could develop cooperation and encourage interaction under the Danube Strategy”, said Minister Angelkova. She recalled that earlier this year the Ministry of Tourism has hosted a meeting of the Danube countries under the motto “Sustainable tourism through cooperation with European funds and investments”, which has shown great prospects and identified concrete steps for the development of joint products and other forms of coordination. “The organization and conduct of a conference with the European Commission will carry on in 2016 the results achieved and ensure sustainability of commitments”, underscored the Bulgarian minister.

Within her two-day visit to the European capital Minister Angelkova held talks with the President of the European Travel Commission (ETC) Peter De Wilde, the Director General of DG “Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs” Lowry Evans, the Director-General of DG “Environment” Daniel Kaye  and others. Discussed at the meetings were the opportunities for deepening the dialogue and for even more effective communication within the European Union in the field of tourism. The European Travel Commission stressed that the establishment of Ministry of Tourism is a clear indication of the important role the sector plays in the development of Bulgarian economy and expressed their desire for closer cooperation between the organization and our country.