site.btaBulgaria, Turkey Discuss Joint Advertising Initiatives

London/Sofia, November 8 (BTA) - Days of culture presenting Turkish customs to the Bulgarian public will be organized in several cities and identical exhibitions dedicated to Bulgaria and its culture will be organized in Turkey. This joint initiative was discussed by Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova and her Turkish counterpart, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmus, at the World Travel Market (WTN) in London, Angelkova's ministry said.

The sides agreed they can achieve positive results in promoting the traditions of the two counties. This will not only increase tourist flows but will help to discuss the creation of a Bulgarian-Turkish tourism product aimed at the promising markets. According to the World Tourism Organisation, those are China, Japan, India, the Middle East, the United States and Canada.

Turkey ranks fifth in the number of tourists who visited Bulgaria in January-September 2017. Their number exceeded 485,000, a 12 per cent increase year on year, Angelkova said. More than one million Bulgarians visited Turkey in the first nine months of the year, up by 6.0 per cent from a year earlier. The Tourism Ministry is working actively to attract more tourists from Turkey, including exploratory tours for tour operators, launch of internet ads in Turkish media and organizing visits of Turkish journalists to Bulgaria.

Angelkova also held a working meeting with Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), at Bulgaria's WTN stand.

Angelkova acquainted Manzo with this country's positive achievements. It was visited by nearly 7.5 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of the year, 7.7 per cent more than a year earlier, she pointed out. Revenue from foreign visitors in January-August topped 5,200 million leva.

Marketing campaigns in target and promising markets and in more than 20 of the main markets have been planned for next year. This will offer tourists up-to-date information on opportunities of travelling to Bulgaria all the year round.

WTTC was established in 1991. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry.