site.btaTourism Ministry Holds Working Meeting on Middle East Situation

A working meeting with representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Civil Aviation Administration and tour operators was organized on the initiative of the Tourism Ministry in connection with the complicated situation in the Middle East and the extraordinary dynamics of events in the region, the Ministry said on Friday.

Discussions focused on the potential impact on the security and optimal safety, health and life of Bulgarian citizens planning to travel to Israel's neighboring countries. 

Participants discussed various aspects of the dynamic situation in the countries for which tour operators have prepared travel programmes, as well as assessing the specificities of the destinations and places where travel takes place. 

The Civil Aviation Administration informed that there is currently no flight ban and airlines are carrying out their trips. Programmes organised by tour operators are possible to take place. Group travel on charter flights, including to the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt, has been organised and may continue. Tour operators and customers are in position to act according to the package travel contracts concluded between them. During the meeting, it was specified that the Foreign Ministry, for its part, published an update on the world situation on the ministry's website. Anyone wishing to travel can inform themselves and make their own decision when visiting the respective tourist destination.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva, Head of the Tourism Ministry's Cabinet Mariana Kordova, Tourism Ministry's Secretary General Miroslava Nikolova, Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration Anelia Marinova, Director of the Situation Centre to the Foreign Ministry Tanya Dimitrova and Executive Director of Euroins AD Rumyana Betova. The tourism industry was represented by the Future for Tourism Association, the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents, the Tourism Association, and companies involved in outbound tourism.

Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has updated its travel advisory for Egypt and Jordan in connection with the flared-up tensions between Israel and Hamas. Changes exclude organized travel to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt, and define the areas in Jordan which should be avoided, Future for Tourism Association Deputy Chair Dimitar Baltov told a press conference at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Thursday.