site.btaOvercoming Seasonal Character of Tourist Services and Diversifying Them Is among Top Goals of Tourism Ministry

Overcoming the seasonal character of tourist services and diversifying them are among the biggest challenges in Bulgaria's product policy, which is aimed at sustainable development of the sector and improving the quality of tourism services, said Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva during fourth national conference on health tourism in Burgas on Tuesday

"For us, health tourism is not just a market niche, but it is an opportunity for sustainable development, attracting new target groups of tourists, extending the active tourist season and, above all, for promoting a healthy lifestyle," she pointed out.

Georgieva expressed her satisfaction that the conference coincides with one of the main goals of the Tourism Ministry, namely the establishment of Bulgaria as a preferred year-round tourist destination, offering mass and specialized tourism. "The goal of today's event is to discuss at a national level and in an expert panel the important steps that Bulgaria should take in order to position the country as a year-round competitive European destination for health tourism with a focus on medical tourism," she emphasized.

She highlighted the assets that Bulgaria has, including a rich natural heritage, mineral springs, healing mud, climatic conditions and historical balneological traditions. "Our task as professionals is to unite them in a quality service with high expertise and international recognition", Georgieva stressed, adding that a significant trend in the development of health tourism is the more effective impact of this type of tourism on the economy of the destination.

Georgieva cited statistical data on the development of health tourism and, in particular, balneological, medical and SPA tourism specifically on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast for 2024, according to which, the distribution between Bulgarian tourists and tourists from abroad is approximately equal. "Among our guests from abroad, Romanian tourists have the largest share with 23.2%, followed by tourists from Germany with 5.6%, Poland with 3.4% and Israel with 2.4%," she noted.

She stated that in the interior of Bulgaria, the main interest in balneotherapy and balneo tourism is still mainly from Bulgarian tourists with almost 93%. They are followed by the neighbouring Balkan countries of North Macedonia with 5.3% and Greece with 0.5%. For tourists from neighboring countries, Georgieva noted that the leading factor in choosing a destination for medical and SPA centres is proximity and pointed out that tourists from North Macedonia prefer hotels with medical and SPA services inland, while tourists from Romania prefer those on the Northern Black Sea coast.