site.btaTourism Minister, Turkish Airlines General Manager for Bulgaria Meet to Address Recent Issues, Advance Cooperation

Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov held a working meeting with Turkish Airlines General Manager for Bulgaria Emrecan Inancer to address issues for businesses arising from changes to airport fares, the Tourism Ministry said in a press release here on Friday.

Participating in the meeting were Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva, Deputy Transport Minister Nikolai Naydenov, representatives of the Association of Tour Operators and Travel Agents, the Future for Tourism Association and a team from the Tourism Ministry..

The meeting took place at the initiative of the Future for Tourism Association who sought assistance from the Tourism Ministry to resolve issues in the work of the tour operators and  Turkish Airline in connection with the period for change of airport fares.

Pavlina Ilieva of the Future for Tourism Association said that the problem that they are faced with is not the price but the short period in which this price is changed. She said that the change is reflected in calculating the end price and voiced hope that the problem will be resolved jointly.

In the course of the talks which proceeded in the spirit of mutual understanding, an agreement was reached to swiftly find a solution in the interest of tour operators and end consumers.

Inancer said that Bulgaria is Turkish Airlines fifth most important market and its aim is to increase passenger numbers and the frequency of flights.

Minister Dimitrov said that Bulgaria will appoint a tourism attache in Istanbul and voiced hope for more Turkish tourists in response to the significant number of Bulgarian tourists to Turkey. The Minister said that work is underway on the issue of visa relaxation and expects an electronic visa for the whole of the EU in 2025, He expressed regret that the e-visa cannot be applied to Turkey, He said that this is an issue which causes problems but which is being addressed.