site.btaBulgarian Deputy PM Nikolova Takes Part in Opening of Otdykh/Leisure 2020 Travel Trade Fair in Moscow

September 8 (BTA) - Bulgaria is the partner
country of the 2020 edition of the Otdykh/Leisure Travel Trade
Fair in Moscow, where it has been an exhibitor in the past 26
years. In an address during the opening of the event, Bulgarian
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demographic Policy and
Tourism Minister Mariyana Nikolova said, quoted by the Bulgarian
 Tourism Ministry, that the fact that Bulgaria is the partner
country of the trade fair demonstrates the event's importance
and also the importance of Russia as a tourist market and
partner of Bulgaria.

Nikolova said that each year hundreds of thousands of Russians
choose Bulgaria for their holidays. She went on to list
Bulgaria's advantages as a holiday destination.

Nikolova dwelled on the negative impact of travel restrictions
and bans in the coronavirus pandemic. She said that despite the
hardships, and thanks to the implementation of timely
anti-epidemic measures to contain the spread of the infection
and also of economic measures in aid of the tourism sector,
Bulgaria is ready to welcome guests from Russia as a safe
destination in the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The Bulgarian
Tourism Ministry is working to restore tourist travels with
Russia, which is a goal of both countries, Nikolova said.

Nikolova opened the exhibition together with Zarina Doguzova,
Head of Russia's Federal Agency for Tourism.

The two had a meeting later in the day. They underscored the
historical traditions in the relations between the two countries
 and peoples. The guest said that the Bulgarian Tourism Ministry
 maintains excellent cooperation with Russian institutions in
charge of tourism, not just federal institutions but also
administrations and businesses in Russian regions.

Doguzova said Russia is open to dialogue with Bulgaria. She
noted the unprecedented fact that tourism is the most important
target sector of the effort to restore the Russian economy. "We
are ready to keep in contact and to support the development of
tourism," she said.

Nikolova and Doguzova considered joint actions to boost tourist
exchange between Bulgaria and Russia, an invigoration of the
partnership between the two countries' tour operators, and
cooperation to ensure safe stay for either country's tourists in
 the other, particularly where children's recreation is
concerned.

Nikolova invited Doguzova to visit Bulgaria and to take part in
an upcoming Bulgaria-Russia tourism forum in the last quarter of
 2020 or early in 2021. The forum will highlight recreation and
balneotherapy tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be
held under the Joined Actions Programme of the Bulgarian Tourism
 Ministry and the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism. RY/VE

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