Sozopol nominated as best European destination for 2017

Sozopol was nominated best European destination for 2017 by the European Best Destinations organization. This was announced during the award ceremony for the In Love with the Wind castle, which this year was ranked fourth among Europe’s most beautiful castles by the same organization. The event was attended by the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova, the Sozopol mayor, Panayot Reizi, etc.

„Attractions such as the Ravadinovo castle help us extend the season and offer more experience to tourists at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast“, Minister Angelkova said. She emphasized that the season was going very well and that everything seems to suggest that this will be one of the strongest seasons the country has ever enjoyed. „In June alone, our southern Black Sea coast welcomed more than a quarter of a million tourists, which is a 20% growth compared to last year“, Nikolina Angelkova announced. Revenues from night-stays in the Bourgas region in June exceeded BGN 73 mil., which is an over 35% increase compared to June 2015.

The In Love with the Wind castle in Ravadinovo village, Sozopol municipality, is ranked 4^th in EBD’s prestigious ranking. The top three spots are taken by the Pena castle in Portugal (first), the Alcazar palace in Spain (second) and the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany (third). Selection took place in two stages: selection by a jury of 9 tourism professionals (travel agencies, tour operators, reporters, heads of tourist offices), followed by online voting of more than 10 000 people from 109 countries.

European Best Destinations (EBD) is an organization headquartered in Brussels, which focuses on the development and promotion of culture and tourism in Europe. It operates in partnership with the EDEN network and all leading European tourism offices, covering over 355 in Europe. Since 2009 EBD has partnered with tourism representatives Europe-wide, focusing on some of the Old Continent’s leading destinations on its website and in the social networks. The number of visitors to the organization’s website exceeds 3 million globally. It publishes pictures, videos, panoramic walks, guides, and tips about all 355 locations. The number of followers in the social networks Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest is nearly 100 000. Destinations acknowledged by European Best Destination register visitor growth of 15% on average.