site.btaActive Advertising in Neighbouring Countries to Attract Tourists to Bulgaria in September

Bulgaria launches a large-scale advertising campaign in neighbouring countries aimed at extending the summer season and attracting more tourists in September, caretaker Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov said at a meeting with branch representatives from Varna Region here on Friday. The campaign will be directed at the domestic market as well so as to encourage Bulgarians to visit the Black Sea coast.  

An attempt will be made to advertise Bulgaria more actively in Poland, Dimitrov added. 

He plans to visit the neighbouring countries as a sign that Bulgaria is a secure country and their citizens are welcome guests here.

Dimitrov said that during his meetings with representatives of the tourism sector he talks about the possible establishment of a single branch organization. A working group will be set up that will propose how to achieve that. For now, the idea is to use the model of Austria and Croatia. There currently are over 200 organizations in the sector, while a single one would be a trusted partner of the Tourism Ministry, he argued.

Thus far, Bulgaria has registered an increase in tourists by some 40% compared to last year but a drop by 25% compared to 2019. An increase has been observed in the number of guests from the UK, Israel, Czechia, and Poland, the Minister said. 

Active work is already underway on the forthcoming winter season, which last year was relatively successful despite the rise in energy prices. This year the focus will be on security and predictability. Bulgaria will once again direct its efforts at attracting guests from neighbouring countries, because there is no longer time to seek new destinations, Dimitrov explained. 

Special attention was also paid to the delay of payments to hoteliers overdue under the humanitarian programme in support of refugees from Ukraine. Over 500 complaints have been received at the Ministry, 90% of which will be resolved by the decision tabled at the Council of Ministers’ meeting this week, Dimitrov said.

Some 510,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered Bulgaria so far and the Government has to consider how to continue the support for both hoteliers and the refugees, for the measure in its present form expires at the end of September, he added.