site.btaTourism Minister Confers with Tour Guides’ Organizations in Bulgaria

Caretaker Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev Thursday held a meeting with the Association of Bulgarian Tour Guides, Mountains and People - Bulgarian Association of Mountain Leaders, the Union of Bulgarian Tourist Guides, and the Vanya Raycheva Southeastern Union of Tour Guides, Miloshev's Ministry said.

"Preparedness for the summer season is my top priority. Just a few days ago, I was in your shoes, and I know how important it is for businesses to have their voice heard by the institutions," Miloshev said. The Minister assured the participants in the meeting that he would be "useful for the tourism sector".

The tour guides' representatives shared the problems they are currently faced with, highlighting the grey sector and the lack of adequate infrastructure to support tourist service development as the most pressing issues. "We lack tourist centres, which serve as the link between tour guides and tourists. It is imperative that a tourist police is established, otherwise our work is meaningless," said Iva Dokova of the Association of Bulgarian Tour Guides.

The sector representatives pointed to the insufficient and sometimes inaccurate signposts that indicate the location of tourist sites. "Signposts are missing in some places. Sometimes they are misidentified. We also encounter great difficulties with sanitary facilities throughout the country. We want tourists, and when they come, we are faced with problems of this nature," said Lubomir Popiordanov, Chair of Mountains and People - Bulgarian Association of Mountain Leaders.

The Bulgarian tour guides asked the Tourism Minister for assistance regarding the control of unfair competition in the sector, voicing their support for him.