Bulgaria’s Tourism Minister held a working meeting with her Spanish counterpart

Spain is an extremely important and desirable partner for Bulgaria in tourism. Appreciating the experience, contribution and influence of the country as one of the leading tourist destinations in Europe and the world, we strive to develop and deepen bilateral relations in this extremely important economic sector for Bulgaria. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova in Madrid on January 21 during a working meeting with María Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Kingdom of Spain.

The talks took place on the eve of the launch of the 40th FITUR International Tourism Fair, which takes place from 22 to 26 January. She is on a working visit to Spain and her programme includes bilateral meetings with representatives of administration and business, as well as participation in a ministerial meeting under the auspices of the World Tourism Organization at the UN on the debate on the future of sustainable tourism within the European green deal.

During the meeting, Minister Angelkova emphasized the strategic importance of the sector for Bulgaria with a share of almost 12% in GDP and 11% in national employment. Both countries maintain very good contacts in the area of tourism and work actively to increase mutual tourist flow. Nearly 85,000 Spanish tourists visited Bulgaria between January and November 2019, but the opportunities are greater.

As a year-round destination, Bulgaria offers very diverse possibilities for mass and specialized tourism, explained Minister Angelkova. She also pointed out that Spain is among the top 10 tourist markets for the capital Sofia, which attracts a strong interest among foreigners with its rich cultural and historical heritage, modern balneological and SPA services, a wealth of mineral water springs, unique pilgrimage sites, wine and culinary tours. and others.

Bulgaria is attracting more and more investors, stressed Minister Angelkova and invited her counterpart to participate in the second edition of the international conference on sustainable investments in tourism. The event will take place from 21 to 23 May 2020 in the largest Bulgarian Black Sea resort Sunny Beach. The topic is related to the promotion of investment opportunities for sustainable tourism in the region and in Southeast Europe. The first ever forum was organized in collaboration with Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization (from 2009 to 2017).

The meeting in Madrid also discussed the possibilities of organizing a bilateral business and tourism forum this year in Bulgaria with the participation of the Ministry of Economy.

The Ministry of Tourism is planning to sign a memorandum of cooperation with Spain in tourism, Minister Angelkova announced and invited her counterpart to visit Bulgaria.

Minister María Reyes Maroto congratulated her minister Angelkova on her efforts in attracting more tourists to Bulgaria and expressed readiness to expand cooperation.

FITUR is one of the largest tourist fairs in the world. During the first three days the event is open only for professionals, and for the rest of the period - for visitors. The largest Spanish tour operators and travel agencies participate in it.

The presentation of Bulgaria at the forum aims to stimulate the promotion of the new developments in the Bulgarian tourism and the position ofthe country on the Spanish market. The highlights are related to the most popular products: cultural, historical and nature tourism, gourmet packages and others. 12 tourism organizations, municipalities and companies take part.

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