site.btaAssociation: Thomas Cooks Collapse Will Affect Bulgarian Tourism in 2020

September 26 (BTA) - The collapse of British travel
firm Thomas Cook will continue to impact the Bulgarian tourist
industry in 2020 and 2021, said Atanas Dimitrov, co-chairman of
the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association in Varna on
Thursday. According to him, the market niche after the company's
 failure will be filled by other firms but this will take time
and the number of British tourists in this country will likely
drop.

Dimitrov added that the Association has serious concerns whether
 this would lead to intercompany indebtedness as many of the
Bulgarian partners of Thomas Cook have loans to service.

The largest number of hotels working with the British company
are located in the Sunny Beach and the Golden Sands resorts,
said the Association co-chairman Branimir Milanski. He expressed
 hope that Bulgarian companies wonТt collapse but this to a
large extent will depend on the state and the measures which
will be taken in the current situation.

The Associations' chairmen  are taking part in the annual
conference of the Balkan Alliance of the Hospitality
Associations which opened Thursday at Sts Konstantin and Elena
resort near Varna. Attending the forum are representatives of
Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania
 and Bulgaria. The forum will highlight the development of
tourism in the region and possibilities for common routes based
on Balkan cuisine. DT/PP