site.btaTourism Minister: Work Is Underway to Expand Programme for Financing Marketing Activities of Tourist Services in Black Sea Municipalities

Minister of Tourism Zaritza Dinkova announced at the Hotel and Tourism Investment Forum on Tuesday that work is already underway to expand the programme for financing marketing activities of tourism services in the Black Sea municipalities in Bulgaria. “We have launched the pilot programme in the Black Sea municipalities, but we are already working to expand it,” the minister said during the eighth edition of the Forum, which is being held in Sofia with the support of the Ministry of Tourism.

According to Dinkova, the programme is a step towards active partnership with the business sector. “We are also working with tour operators, municipalities, airports in this programme, through it we are removing the burden of mediation, it is an expression of the political will to support the competitiveness of the sector and it is a real step in the direction of decentralisation and empowerment of local communities,” Dinkova said, pointing out that tourism relies primarily on local policies. She pointed out that with the programme, the ministry is also responding adequately to one of the most important recommendations of the European institutions to fight corruption regarding the spending of state funds on advertising. In her words, this is a step towards restoring Bulgaria's credibility with its foreign partners. Dinkova said that the programme has already received positive feedback from diplomats in some of Bulgaria’s most important markets.