Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
have attracted limited numbers of foreign tour-
ists. They are functioning in the mountain areas
and national parks and more specifically in
the Rhodope, Stara Planina and Pirin. These
should not be developed as mass tourism desti-
nations as this would be contrary to the very
appeal of the discovery of little known places.
Until February 2005 the tourism sector
was the responsibility of the Ministry of the
Economy, which implemented public policy for
tourism and coordinated tourism development
with other sectors. This entailed:
initiating regulations for tourism activities;
supervising international relations in the
field of tourism;
supporting the activities of regional and
local organizations, and with those in specific
sectors;
Gastronomic tourism
Bulgarian traditional food and drink can be
one of the strengths in the tourism attraction
mix of the country. Bulgaria is alleged to be
the homeland of wine, as Homer writes that
Thracians (the ancient inhabitants of the
eastern Balkans) learnt to prepare wine from
grapes. Bulgarian wines, especially the dry red
varieties, are of good quality and good value.
Visits to vineyards and wine cellars (and the
development of wine trails) should be pro-
moted and combined with folklore events,
archaeological tours and other special interest
visits. There is also a variety of other drinks
based on the Bulgarian yoghurt and different
types of brandies.
developing information technology resources;
undertaking marketing research, analysis
and forecasts; and
developing the tourism product and training.
On 18 February 2005 the government trans-
ferred tourism to a combined Ministry of Culture,
Tourism and Sport. The first reaction of the
business community to this was not enthusiastic.
The National Tourism Board has been
established as a body to consult with the Minis-
try. As a national tourism organization its role is
to assist the implementation of national policy
in the field of tourism. The members of the
National Board are representatives of tourism-
related ministries, national airlines and of sector
and regional tourism organizations. According
to the Tourism Act, municipal administrations
have statutory rights and obligations to imple-
ment tourism policy in their areas.
By September 2004, 1876 companies had
a state licence to operate in the tourism sector
(NSI, 2005) with the majority (1112) registered
as tour operating companies, and 764 as travel
agents. A serious concern is the lack of experi-
ence of many smaller firms operating in market-
ing: their service quality is low and long-term
plans are rarely implemented or are absent. A
new law referring to the management of the
Black Sea coast is being prepared in order to
regulate: building licences against interference
from other interests, access to public spaces and
the use of beaches, the location of shops and
other
Bulgarian Tourism During the
Post-Communist Transition
Institutional change
After establishing the necessary legal frame-
work, privatization in the Bulgarian tourism
sector was carried out during the period
1997-2002. Employees in tourism enterprises
were allowed to buy up to 20% of the shares,
the rest were sold on competitive terms to
Bulgarian and foreign financial groups.
The new owners immediately started
reconstructing old premises and building new
facilities. In a short time the Bulgarian coastal
and mountain resorts were modernized although
some serious problems emerged. The rapid
transformation, and particularly the construc-
tion and upgrading of premises and the market-
ing of the new Bulgarian tourism product, could
not have been possible without the financial
and logistic support of European tour operators,
especially the German and British.
commercial
activities,
and
ecological
requirements.
From January 2007, any difference in
accommodation price for foreigners and
Bulgarians will become illegal as one of the
requirements of EU entry (see www.netinfo.bg).
Currently some hoteliers offer lower prices to
Bulgarians, justifying a dual pricing policy by
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