site.btaTourism Minister: Bulgaria to Have Very Difficult Summer Season

Tourism Minister: Bulgaria to Have Very Difficult Summer Season

Sofia, March 18 (BTA) - Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova
Wednesday said that Bulgaria will have a very difficult summer
season. The drop in the number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists
 due to reasons external to this country requires the taking of
urgent measures to compensate for this decrease, she said at a
National Assembly Economic Policy and Tourism Committee meeting
on the prospects, problems and
solutions for the 2015 tourist season.

Angelkova added, however, that apocalyptic forecasts should not
be made. She recalled some of the Tourism Ministry's measures
aimed at compensating for the negative expectations:
participation in all possible tourism exhibitions, such as those
 in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the Scandinavian
countries. The final goal for this season is to keep the  2014
level of the number of tourists having visited Bulgaria. 
Another measure is to adapt the country's advertisement as a
tourist destination to the particularities of each market and of
 tourists, as well as to focus on the visa policy for third
countries.

Economic Policy and Tourism Committee Chair Peter Kunev forecast
 a drop by 30 to 60 per cent in the number of Russian tourists
for external reasons. He recommended that a quick compensation
be found for the decrease in the number of tourists not only
from Russia, but also from Eastern Europe.

Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivailo Kalfin outlined the
additional opportunities for supporting the various types of
tourism in Bulgaria. He talked about the possible facilitation
of the procedure for hiring people aged under 18 in the tourism
branch.

Deputy Foreign Minister Katya Todorova said that the worsening
environment of international security has a strong effect on the
 regime of people's movement. "We all expect a favourable
decision on the country's entry in Schengen; this means opening
of the air borders, which in turn means that strict checks will
have to be conducted at our airports, because our country is one
 of the routes of the so-called Islamic fighters," Todorova
said.