site.btaBulgaria, Serbia Sign Memorandum of Cooperation in Tourism

116 ECONOMY - SERBIA - TOURISM - AMP 1

Bulgaria, Serbia
Sign Memorandum of Cooperation
in Tourism


Belgrade, February 21 (BTA) - Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova and Serbian Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Minister Rasim Ljajic on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in tourism.

The signing took place ahead of the opening of the 41st International Belgrade Tourism Fair where Bulgaria is featured as a partner country.

The document will promote business contacts between the administrations and tourist organizations of the two countries and will build on support for initiatives associated with the UN World Tourism Organisation, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the EU Danube Strategy.

Minister Angelkova highlighted Bulgaria's proposal for a joint Balkan route which will showcase the region's cultural and historical heritage which is under the auspices of UNESCO.
Eleven countries, including Serbia, have expressed interest.

Earlier on Thursday Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova told travel business representatives in Belgrade that Serbia is an important source market for the Bulgarian tourist industry.

In 2018, Serbian citizens made 421,000 trips to Bulgaria, which was 7 per cent more than in 2017, Angelkova said.

The discussion involved Marija Labovic, Director of the National
Tourism Organization of Serbia, and Tijana Maljkovic, Secretary
for Tourism at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, as well as business officials.

Angelkova invited her hosts to a forum on sustainable
investments in tourism which will be held in the Sunny Beach
resort in late May. The event is expected to attract 300
professionals and experts in the sector.

The sides agreed that Bulgarian and Serbian tourism business
representatives will hold two meetings in March and April to
boost bilateral cooperation.

They considered joint tourist products for distant markets such
as China.

Maljkovic said that Bulgaria is a preferred travel destination.
"We have noticed how well the sector has developed over the last few years and we follow your advertising efforts with
interest," she said.

The hosts noted that Serbians are most interested in Bulgaria's
winter resorts and usually visit Borovets, Bansko or Pamporovo.
RY,LI/VE,PP