BTA Is "Excellent Source of Information" about Tourism in Bulgaria, BTA Director General Says at Vienna Forum

Ekaterina Toteva

Snapshot of the forum in Vienna, November 21, 2024 (BTA Photo)

Vienna,

21.11.2024 20:48

(BTA)

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is an excellent source of information about tourism in Bulgaria, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said during an event in Vienna presenting Bulgaria as a destination for year-round health tourism for the users of the Austrian health insurance market,

It is the second edition of the event, which was organized by the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and Spa Tourism, and was supported and hosted by the Embassy of Bulgaria in Vienna. The event is supported by the Bulgarian Tourism Ministry and will be officially opened by Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva.

"I am here to show BTA's support for more information about Bulgaria as the land of the three W's – Wellness (Wellness), Wein (Wine) and Weltkulturerbe (World Cultural Heritage), which is the name of the current forum," Valchev told the guests.

He mentioned seven arguments for BTA's role as a source of information about tourism in Bulgaria.

First, BTA is the only Bulgarian media outlet with a 24/7 English-language news service. BTA also publishes in English some of the issues of its specialized LIK magazine for art and culture.

Second, for over a century now BTA has been applying European standards for real news which comes against the backdrop of the sea of fake news nowadays. BTA was established in 1898 along the lines of the Austro-Hungarian Telegraphen-Korespondenz-Bureau (Korbureau) which was founded in Vienna in 1860. BTA put out its first news item 126 years ago, when on February 16 a dispatch from Vienna reported about the illness of the mother of the Bulgarian prince.

Third, for three years now, access to BTA news in both Bulgarian and English can be used by all at no cost and be re-published by all media outlets, including Austrian ones.

Fourth, BTA already has news exchange agreements with 49 national news agencies from 4 continents. Most recently, an agreement was signed with Egypt's national news agency MENA. Last year, BTA also signed a new contract with the national news agency of Austria, Austria Presse Agentur, with which it has been working for decades. The two agencies are jointly members of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and MINDS International (Media Innovation Network), a Vienna-based association of 25 leading news agencies from around the world for cooperation in the field of information services.

Fifth, BTA has a permanent correspondent in Vienna. This also confirms Bulgaria's special interest in Austria.

Sixth, BTA is the seat and Secretary General of the Association of Balkan News Agencies - South East Europe (ABNA-SE). 12 news agencies from the region together provide news, which can also be about common tourist routes.

"But in order for the Austrian people to make full use of them, Austria must soon agree on free movement across the land borders of Bulgaria and Romania with the other Schengen countries," said the BTA Director General.

Seventh, BTA has contracts for receiving information from leading associations in the field of tourism and their members, including with the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and Spa Tourism. Thanks to these contracts, BTA publishes news that can be useful not only for tourists from Austria, but also for investors in Bulgarian tourism. BTA also has such a contract with the National Archaeological Institute with a museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, with which it jointly presents the Bulgarian archaeological heritage in a special section on BTA’s website, Valchev said.

He thanked the organizers for the invitation to BTA to participate in this event, which he expects to be very useful for formulating specific messages for the upcoming winter tourist season in Bulgaria, among other things.

These messages will be discussed at a "BG Tourism" forum on December 13. BTA has been organizing these discussions for the third year in a row, and the upcoming edition will be held in partnership of the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and Spa Tourism.

/NF/