Minister Angelkova opened an exhibition at the World Tourism Day

More than a million tourists are expected to see the exhibition “Bulgaria: An Attractive Tourist Destination”. The exposition was opened by Minister Angelkova at Sofia Airport at the World Tourism Day.

“This year the exhibit’s motto is ‘Billion tourists, billion opportunities’. And the statement is based on real-life facts. Over a billion tourists travel around the world and 52% of them choose Europe as their final destination. Bulgaria can and should take advantage of this tourist flow”, said Minister Angelkova. According to her we should have an active and continuous position in synch with that of WTO. “The fact that at this year’s General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization in Colombia Bulgaria was elected vice-president is a yet another opportunity to make our voice heard. Also, during the Assembly we received support from Russia and China to organize the first International conference on ancient civilizations” Tourism Minister said. 

She also stressed that tourism is an important industry which has remained a driver for economic growth even in a difficult international and economic situation. World Travel and Tourism Council’s data shows that in 2014 the total contribution to the global GDP of the tourism industry and its related sectors was nearly 10 % . The number of people employed in the sector exceeds 270 million people which makes for one in every 11 people worldwide are engaged in the tourism industry.

Minister Angelkova congratulated all involved in the tourism sector for the hard work on advertising Bulgaria as a tourist destination.

The World Tourism Day has been celebrated since 1980 and the exhibit “Bulgaria:  An Attractive Tourist Destination” was initiated in order to celebrate it. The exhibition features 30 photos by 23 different photographers from all around Bulgaria. The best five of them were awarded special prizes. The exhibit will also be showcased at the Burgas and Varna airports. Over 1 million people saw last year’s edition of the exhibit. Expectation are that this year the number of visitors will be the same.