site.btaItalian Cultural Assets and Tourism Minister Franceschini Pays Visit to Bulgaria

Italian Cultural Assets and Tourism Minister Franceschini Pays Visit to Bulgaria

Sofia, July 6 (BTA) - Italian Cultural Assets and Tourism
Minister Dario Franceschini paid a visit to Sofia on Monday,
during which he conferred with Bulgarian Tourism Minister
Nikolina Angelkova and Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov. A
Bulgaria-Italy tourism forum was opened and a Memorandum of
Understanding on countering illicit trafficking of cultural
property was signed during Franceschini's visit.

Bulgaria and Italy will work for the creation of common tourism
products for distant markets and joint initiatives, related to
the promotion of cultural, historical and archaeological
tourism, Minister Angelkova said during a joint news conference
after the Bulgaria-Italy tourism forum's opening. The two
countries can work jointly for the establishment of an EU
tourism ministerial council. Italy has shown interest in
investments related to balneo, wellness and spa tourism, she
noted.

Angelkova said that the number of tourists has grown 14 per
cent in the first five months of this year, compared to the like
period of 2014. Commenting summer tourism, Angelkova said that
there is a 20 per cent decline, noting that a difficult season
is ahead.

Bulgaria was visited by around 129,000 Italians in 2014, while
the number of Bulgarians who vacationed in Italy was 126,000.
According to Angelkova, there is potential to increase the
number of tourists from both countries.

Minister Franceschini noted that Bulgaria has a lot to offer
from its tourism in terms of arts and thermal wellness tourism
during the winter, referring in particular to Sofia's and the
nearby Vitosha Mountain's possibilities.

Culture Minister Rashidov and Minister Franceschini signed here
on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding on the prevention of the
theft, illegal excavations and illegal import, export and
ownership transfer of movable cultural property and
encouragement of its return. Being countries rich in cultural
heritage, this document is very important as both Bulgaria and
Italy need assistance and work jointly in this regard, Rashidov
commented. Minister Franceschini noted that the possibility to
train Bulgarian police and customs officers to counter illicit
trafficking of cultural property is included.

The two ministers discussed 2019, when Bulgarian and Italian
cities will be European capitals of culture. A huge cultural
exchange between the two countries is also being considered.

Rashidov and Franceschini are initiators of a joint declaration
of EU culture ministers regarding the safeguarding of cultural
monuments, which are currently being destroyed. "We must make an
important decision so that all monuments can be digitalized and
uploaded on electronic media, because many are being
irreversibly destroyed," Rashidov commented.