site.btaTourism Minister Dimitrov Holds Meeting to Promote Blue Flag Initiative

On Monday, caretaker Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov held a working meeting with the Chairman of the Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement, Stanimir Georgiev, with the aim of popularizing the initiative and increasing the number of beaches with guaranteed cleanliness and impeccable conditions for tourism. Eighteen Bulgarian beaches and one marina carry the prestigious mark, the Ministry of Tourism said.

"This is a long-term action that we can initiate right now and start with small steps, despite the limited horizon of the caretaker cabinet," stressed Minister Dimitrov.

Cleanliness, safety and, above all, the quality of water is the most important condition for applying for a Blue Flag. These conditions are checked through accredited private laboratories or the Regional Health Inspectorate on the Black sea.

The Blue Flag award is an established eco-label and standard in tourism with a 35-year history, which was awarded to the world's best 5,042 beaches, marinas and tourist vessels , including those in prominent Bulgarian resorts.

As a full member and representative for Bulgaria of the international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), the world's largest environmental organization with members from over 75 countries, the Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement also promotes the lesser-known Green Key programme.

Green Key is an eco-label for hotels, tourist and entertainment facilities such as campsites, restaurants, attractions and other ecologically managed places that use only sustainable methods and technologies of operation. The goal is to turn hotel services into environmentally friendly and responsible businesses that strives to reduce the resources used, water and energy, as well as the use of local products.

Georgiev said that at the moment there is one hotel in the process of a Green Key certification in Bulgaria, 11 hotels are participating in a pilot project, and very soon possibly 46 more places of accommodation will follow suit, since the largest English tour operator requires the hotels it works with (4,600 in the world, of which 46 in Bulgaria) to undergo a Green Key audit.