site.btaTourism Minister Discusses Joint Measures for Regulation of Short-term Rentals with Booking.com CEO

During his visit in Brussels, Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh held a working meeting with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel. The meeting took place during a high-level forum, which Minister Borshosh attended at the invitation of the European Travel Commission, the Ministry said.

He and Fogel discussed the possibility of conducting checks by Booking.com on the actual number of short-term rental properties based on data submitted by the ministry on registered accommodation. Such checks will begin to shed light on the sector until the entry into force of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services in 2026.

A week earlier in Sofia, Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh spoke with Boris Pavlov from the Association for Tourist Properties and Innovations about possible steps for regulations and transparency of short-term rentals. Pavlov raised the issue of unregistered overnight stays in short-term rental properties with the Minister of Tourism, which are not included in the general statistics in the country. As a preventive measure, the Association offered its assistance in verifying the real number of tourist overnight stays by generating a registration number. "In this way, we will shed light on a large part of the gray sector in the short-term rental industry," said Pavlov.

Borshosh expressed his adamant position: "The Ministry of Tourism will find a working solution and will continue its active dialogue with businesses, industry organizations and institutions to guarantee protection of the interests of both tourists and legitimate market participants."

The topic remains among the priorities for Minister Borshosh, and decisions will be formulated at the upcoming working meetings with all stakeholders in the industry.

A high-level forum Destination Europe was held in Brussels, during which the Bulgarian Minister of Tourism held a working meeting with European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas . The event brought together leading EU politicians, tourism experts and business representatives to discuss key issues and challenges in future of European tourism.