Tourism Act Amended on First Reading to Regulate National Resorts Declaration Criteria, Procedure

Любомир Гигов

Lyuben Dilov MP of GERB-UDF at a plenary sitting of the National Assembly, September 18, 2024 (BTA Photo/Minko Chernev)

Sofia,

18.09.2024 12:39

(BTA)

Bulgaria's Parliament on Wednesday voted, 89-3 with 59 abstentions, to pass on first reading a bill to amend and supplement the Tourism Act moved by MPs of GERB -UDF, regulating the criteria and procedure for the declaration of national resorts.

The legislature at first rejected the draft legislation but, after a check of the quorum, it was revoted and adopted.

The revisions provide that national resorts are to be declared on a motion by the Minister of Tourism by decision of the Council of Ministers. An application for the declaration of a national resort is submitted by the mayor of the municipality within whose territory the resort of parts of it are located, following a municipal council resolution. This enables local government to assess to the greatest extent the interest and needs of the settlement concerned in the declaration of a national resort, the reasons to the bill point out. The movers argue that the criteria which national resorts are supposed to satisfy take into account the needs of tourists and of the local population, as well as of business.

Lyuben Dilov MP of GERB-UDF, who is among the sponsors of the draft legislation, explained that the National Assembly is starting work on a bill which it will obviously be unable to complete within its lifetime. He noted that an ordinance on national resorts cannot be drafted for more than four years now. "Support for the bill is symbolic and the provisions can be amplified before its second reading," Dilov added.

/DD/