The Minister of Tourism presented the priorities for the development of the sector to the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism

Minister of Tourism Miroslav Borshosh took part in the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism, where he presented the priorities for sustainable development of the sector. The digital transformation, a new advertising concept and establishing Bulgaria as a year-round tourist destination are the main priorities on which the ministry is already working. This is what Minister Miroslav Borsos told the MPs during the blitz control in the parliamentary committee.

The main challenges in the sector are related to ensuring year-round employment in the industry and increasing Bulgaria's competitiveness on the international market. The Ministry actively communicates with the competent institutions to facilitate the procedures for recruiting third-country workers. Long-term measures include reforms in education and creating incentives for young people to pursue a career in the tourism sector. The minister pointed out that only 25-30 percent of those who graduate from Tourism are employed in the sector, adding: "For me it is of paramount importance that the personnel in tourism be formed and trained here, that they be Bulgarians - Bulgarians to work in Bulgarian tourism. This is the biggest goal in terms of the demographic crisis and the task to keep the staff in our labour market - if people find jobs in tourism, they will stay in the country," the minister said.

At the same time, issues such as improving the quality of the national tourism product, protecting the interests of the consumer and reducing the administrative burden on business will be among the leading focuses of the ministry's work.

"The first and main task before the team of the Ministry of Tourism is the drafting of amendments to the Tourism Act and the by-laws. Changes will be proposed to the regulations on the categorization of accommodation facilities, registration of guest rooms and apartments, as well as the certification of spa, wellness and balneo-medical centers. Among our priorities is also the development of a Regulation on the development and use of movable objects in national resorts and sea beaches in order to achieve greater order and transparency," Minister Borshosh emphasized.

The Ministry of Tourism will work to establish a Consumer Rights Guarantee Fund. National information campaigns will be carried out to raise tourists' awareness of their rights. Another important aspect is the increased control over tourism services to ensure high quality and good standards in the offer.

MPs also showed interest in the initiative of the Ministry of Tourism to create a map of inaccessible and difficult to reach tourist and cultural-historical sites, which Minister Borshosh announced a few days ago. "Many tourist and cultural-historical sites need rehabilitation of the road network to them. The poor condition of the road is a reason to reduce the interest of tourists, no matter how significant the sites are. I will be relying on local government for information on the road infrastructure of feeder infrastructure within their communities.  To this end, we will work with the National Tourist Board and the local tourist associations to summarise the data in a short period of time in a unified map of the inaccessible and hard-to-reach tourist sites," Minister Borshosh said.

The Ministry is undertaking a comprehensive review of advertising and marketing activities, and will focus on value for money.

"A new unified concept and promotional products for the Bulgaria brand will be developed and a completely new approach will be introduced for the presentation of the different types of tourism," Miroslav Borshosh said in response to questions from the committee members and added: "The main goal is to direct resources to the right channels in target markets for maximum impact."

 "The Ministry will also focus its efforts on the digital transformation of Bulgarian tourism through the renovation of the National Tourism Portal (bulgariatravel.org), which should become a modern interactive information platform with a mobile application," Minister Miroslav Borshosh further emphasized.

In response to a question from the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee Taner Ali about the Ministry's expectations for the 2025 summer season, Minister Miroslav Borshosh said: "I hope the 2025 season will finally erase the traces of the Covid crisis and exceed the best results so far in 2019. Through good advertising and marketing of the mountain resorts as a destination for summer recreation, the positive results can become better. We are in active discussions about joint initiatives with them as well, so that the 2025 results are significantly better than before."

Minister Miroslav Borshosh added in response to the questions that a new working group has been established for the development of medical tourism, where Bulgaria has excellent advantages and huge potential. "The aim is to outline concrete steps to establish the country as an attractive destination for health and medical tourism. We have already located the countries with interest in this area with which we can potentially sign an agreement with their health insurance companies," the Minister of Tourism further said.

During his hearing Miroslav Borshosh presented the team with which he will implement the priorities of the government's management programme in the field of tourism.