site.btaUPDATED Milk Road Campaign Advertises Rhodope Mountains to Chinese Tourists

Smolyan Region is being promoted as a tourist destination in China, Momchil Karaivanov, who is a member of the Bulgarian - Chinese Society Friends of China, headquartered in Smolyan, told BTA. The region's promotional campaign is boosted by Momchilovtsi, a brand of Bulgarian dairy products popular in China that has been on the market since 2009.

The advertising campaign goes beyond Chinese consumers' perception of Momchilovtsi as a place of longevity and puts the focus on the tourism products available at Rhodope Mountains.

Momchilovtsi, the Rhodope Mountains, Pamporovo and Smolyan Region were represented at the tourism expo in Ningbo, China, earlier this autumn, Karaivanov reported. He shared that the popularity of Momchilovtsi milk can bring Chinese tourists to the Rhodope Mountains, as the advertising campaign relies on showing a comprehensive tourism product that turns the "Milk Road" into a long-term itinerary. He added that the potential benefit of developing a tourism product for the Chinese market is significant, as, according to recent data, China's middle class is comprised of 300 to 500 million people.

Siyka Surkova, Mayor of Momchilovtsi, said that every Chinese attendant of the expo they spoke to was already familiar with the Momchilovtsi dairy brand.

The village of Momchilovtsi's popularity in Asia has already brought tourists to the Rhodopes in the past decade. The village is once again enjoying tourist traffic from China in 2024. Chinese language courses are being taught in Momchilovtsi.

Plans to increase tourist flow from China face two major obstacles: Bulgaria is not yet part of the land Schengen, and there is no direct air route connecting the two countries.

All municipalities of the Smolyan region were represented at the tourism exhibition in China. The focus was on Pamporovo as a ski destination, the spa centres of Devin and Banite, as well as on sites for cultural and historical tourism.