site.bta Concessions for Three Groups of Beaches to Be Awarded under Planned Amendments to Black Sea Coast Development Act

Concessions for Three Groups of  Beaches to Be Awarded under Planned Amendments to Black Sea Coast Development Act

Varna, on the Black Sea, August 26 (BTA) - The Ministry of Tourism is drafting amendments to the Black Sea Coast Development Act, under which beaches will be allocated to four main groups, Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said here on Friday at a meeting with coastal beach concessionaires and tenants.

The first group will comprise beaches in urbanized areas, the second group is for beaches in non-urbanized areas close to the resort complexes, the third group is for beaches far from the resorts, and the fourth group is for specific beaches intended for environment-friendly tourism. Angelkova specified that the beaches of the last group will not be available for concession or tenancy.

The draft amendments are supposed to be laid before the Council of Ministers in late October. The public consultation on the proposed revisions is to be completed by late September or mid-October. A broad discussion of the proposals will take place in October.

The Tourism Ministry is also drafting an ordinance under the Act, which will list all characteristics of the beaches and assign each beach to a particular group.

The Ministry is working on a new methodology for fixing the concession royalties. Beach amenities will have a 40 per cent weighting when a concessionaire is selected. To this end, baseline fee rates for an umbrella and a sun bed have been fixed, taking into consideration the location of the beaches. Angelkova specified that this will apply to new concessions only.

At present, out of a total of 234 coastal beaches, concessions have been awarded for 55 and another 82 are leased, the Tourism Minister said. She hopes that the amendments will boost interest in unmanaged beaches.