Minister Angelkova at a business breakfast with the diplomatic corps: 2018 will have key events for Bulgarian tourism

We are preparing an ambitious calendar of events for next year. Some of them will take place during Bulgaria’s presidency of the EU Council, we are also organizing a second edition of the Congress on World Civilizations and Creative Tourism. This was said by Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Angelkova, during the 5^th consecutive Ministry-organized business breakfast with ambassadors in our country. The event was attended by some 50 heads and representatives of diplomatic missions in our country. The Minister explained that the first key summit event will be in February. A meeting of EU member-states ministers focusing on tourism and economic growth will be held then. Apart from that event, the Ministry of Tourism is also working on 5 other events due to take place during the year’s first half, when Bulgaria will be presiding the EU Council.

Together with the People’s Republic of China we are also preparing a tourism forum Beijing in April 2018, further announced the Minister, indicating that this is another way to highlight the EU-China 2018 European initiative, which is dedicated to tourism“ (2018 EU-China Tourism Year).

Minister Angelkova presented to the heads of diplomatic missions in our country tourism outcomes for the 10 months of 2017. The total international visitors to Bulgaria during the January-October exceeded 8 million, registering a 7,6 per cent growth compared to the same period of last year, said the Minister, further explaining that revenues from international travel  during the January - September period amount to some BGN 6 billion. The growth in revenues is over 9 per cent compared to the same period of last year. During the summer season alone, our country was visited by over 5,3 million international tourists, this being 5,7% more compared to the same period of 2016. As regards the winter season, the Minister stated that it is forecasted to be a successful one as well. Expectations are that incoming visitors will increase by 5-10% compared to the 2016/2017 winter season, when Bulgaria welcomed over 1,42 million international guests.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism is the first one in the world to launch a servicing enabling direct sharing of tourism sites via Viber’s Chat Extension, Minister Angelkova further told the diplomats. The connection will enable that everything, which is linked or connected to any mobile app and website of iLoveBulgaria, will also be automatically displayed in Viber. Users will be able to find and forward in chat mode photos and info about our national sites. We, the Ministry of Tourism and iLoveBulgaria, are the first in Bulgaria and worldwide, who are able to provide content in Viber’s Chat Extension, Minister Angelkova explained to the ambassadors.

HE Ahmed Al-Mabduh thanked Minister Angelkova for the traditional Ministry-organized meeting and commented that it is an amazing initiative, which should be kept going forward as well.

„Bulgaria is a popular filmmaking destination. Bollywood films were shot here, making the country popular in India“, said HE Ms. Pooja Kapur, ambassador of India in Bulgaria. She added that it is a very beneficial undertaking positively affecting the country’s image and promotion and that it should keep developing.

HE Ljerka Alajbeg, ambassador of Croatia in our country, commented that Croatia is also taking steps to hire third-country workers because her country, similarly to Bulgaria, experiences issues with qualified staff.

We should pay more attention to nature preservation, because this is our biggest treasure, recommended HE Marian Gyorchev, ambassador of Republic of Macedonia.

The ambassadors also welcomed the Ministry’s initiative to showcase less known tourism destinations to diplomatic corps representatives.

Minister Angelkova thanked the heads and representatives of diplomatic missions in our country for their cooperation. You are not only ambassadors of your countries in our country, but also ambassadors of Bulgaria, stated the Minister, adding that she expects good interactions in tourism to continue and that they would always be greeted with open doors at the Ministry.