site.btaTourism Minister Says Summer Season Started Well, Black Sea Water Quality Excellent

"The summer tourist season has started well, according to preliminary data for June we have almost one million tourist registrations," caretaker Minister of Tourism Evtim Miloshev told Bulgarian National TV here on Sunday.

He said that in the tourism sector, the chickens should not be counted before they're hatched, adding that at least a 10% growth is expected.

The water on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is of excellent quality, this can be seen on the website of the European Commission, which twice a month monitors the cleanliness of the Black Sea, the Minister stressed.

Efforts are made to create personnel in the tourism field, Miloshev said. The reputation of the professions in tourism should be improved, the personnel should be prepared in secondary education, he said, adding that the dual system of education offers great opportunities.

The problem of manpower, especially with third-country nationals, does not depend only on the consular services but also on other institutions, the Minister said. "After the summer tourist season, I will initiate an inter-agency dialogue on the work force issue," Miloshev said.

In tourism, the business wants regulation, it wants rules to be able to develop the tourism product, the Minister said. He said everyone in tourism, from the hygienist to the hotel owner, should have a smile. "The world sees our country through tourism, if we don't welcome them well, when the tourism product is not good, it becomes the face of our whole country," Miloshev added.

"Anything that is good for the country is good for tourism. Everything that weighs on the country politically, such as inflation, geopolitics, prices, directly affects tourism, and tourism is the face of our country," Miloshev said.