site.btaBulgaria, Greece Begin Work on Joint Presentation as Tourist Destination on Distant Markets

January 31 (BTA) - Bulgaria and Greece begin work on a joint presentation of the two countries as a tourist destination on distant markets, starting with the US, it transpired at a joint news conference of Tourism Ministers Nikolina Angelkova of Bulgaria and Haris Theoharis of Greece here on Friday. Other discussed markets include China, Japan, and South Korea.

During Theoharis' working visit to Sofia on Friday, he and Angelkova also signed a programme for joint actions in tourism in the 2020-2022 period.

Angelkova said that all details about the joint product of Bulgaria and Greece will be discussed by a working group of experts, whose names will be specified on February 3. "We will begin with cultural and historical, balneological, and spa tourism so as to test these tourist products, then the experts will propose common marketing activities for advertising this joint product," she added. The next step will be related to the integration of the tourism sector which will provide this product.

Angelkova recalled that last year Bulgaria was visited by over 9.3 million foreign tourists. Greece is traditionally among the top three important markets for Bulgaria, and in 2019 Greeks ranked second among foreign tourists who visited Bulgaria; their number grew by 12 per cent in the last four years alone. Over 1.4 million Bulgarians visit Greece, Angelkova said.

Minister Theoharis said that tourism is the universal ambassador of friendship, and added that the signing of the programme in this sector will deepen the strategic cooperation between Greece and Bulgaria. Bulgarian tourists are in the top three for Greece in terms of their number, he noted. He expressed the hope that the two countries will make joint efforts to improve the crossing of their border control checkpoints, as the business wants.

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