Minister Angelkova opened summer season 2016 in Varna

The Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova, together with the mayor Ivan Portnih, the minister of youth and sports Krasen Kralev and the regional governor Stoyan Pasev launched Summer season 2016 in Varna. In the framework of the event an international sports marathon was held and the new visitor centre of the Roman Baths in the city was opened.

“We are launching a season which, based on preliminary estimates, will be very strong and we should make joint efforts to ensure the quality of the tourist product”, minister Angelkova emphasized. In her words, namely the sports events along with the specialized forms of tourism may provide value added to the vacation of tourists and contribute to extending the wings of the season. She congratulated Varna municipality for the efforts made in addressing the seasonality in the region and noted that data confirmed they were on the right track. In the past year, Varna region reported a rise in the number of tourist overnights, reaching some 915 thousand, or 6% higher than in 2014. Varna began 2016 with the same steady pace and in the first three months of the year it marked a 10% rise in overnights as compared to the same period last year.   

At the opening of the new visitor centre in the Roman Baths the mayor Ivan Portnih highlighted the benefits of the so-called pedestrian ring, which takes the guests of the city to a tour of its cultural landmarks. The visitor centre will have a bookstore, a ticket office, a buffet, modern service premises, places for disabled persons, etc.  As an experiment, this summer the working hours of the renovated Roman Baths will be extended till 10 p.m. The idea is to have groups and performances throughout the season almost every day and the municipality should start building a small scene in the baths.

The ceremony for the opening of the new season was accompanied by reconstruction of the ancient Odesos, including Roman legionnaires, and a performance by the military brass orchestra. Present at the event were also the commander of the Bulgarian Navy rear admiral Mitko Petev, representatives of the municipality and the municipal council, tourism industry, many guests and citizens of the city, etc.