site.btaTourism Minister Talks with European Internal Market Commissioner

Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova and the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton discussed the difficulties facing the tourism sector in Bulgaria at a meeting in Brussels, Dinkova's ministry reported on Friday. Dinkova noted that after the country's regular government took office in June 2023 following two years of turbulence, the Tourism Ministry managed to develop a new approach to supporting and popularizing Black Sea municipalities, which are among Bulgaria's worst affected areas by the war in Ukraine.

She pointed to the need for additional resources for a digital and green transition in the context of developing the tourism sector, given that tourism is outside the scope of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. "Bulgaria is yet to restore its inbound tourism flow back to the 2019 level, which is why we and the European Commission are discussing possibilities for targeted measures to support the sector," Dinkova said. One of the measures could be to reconsider the planned revocation of the reduced 9% VAT on tourist services, which is due on June 30.

The minister went on to say that one of the most serious problems confronting the Bulgarian tourism industry is the shortage of skilled personnel able to meet the ever growing needs of tourists.

Breton answered by saying that the shortage of highly qualified and promising tourism employees is a problem in many EU member states. The European Commission is working hard to address the issue and has new initiatives in this field, he said. He believes it is necessary to raise the prestige of working and building a career in the sector. "Tourism is a very interesting field of work, so we will encourage young people to choose it," the commissioner said.

According to Breton, the fragile recovery of tourism in Bulgaria shows a need for further efforts to highlight the sector's importance at the national level. His team and the competent EC directorates will discuss in greater detail the possibility to extend the validity of the reduced 9% VAT rate in tourism as a COVID recovery measure.

Breton showed interest in Dinkova's initiative to promote joint projects and closer cooperation in tourism among Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Italy and Spain. He observed that the drive to promote Black Sea municipalities enhances social resilience and provides a good example of applying the European path of transition in tourism.