Ministry of Tourism is creating the first ever register of the tourist sites and attractions in Bulgaria

“We are working on creating a unified register for the tourist sites and attractions and its integration into ESTI (Unified System of Tourist Information)”,  said the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova.  She added that the basis for this has already been secured as 165 municipalities out of an overall number of 264 have submitted information on the sites, their ownership and existing infrastructure. “I would like to urge the remaining mayors and municipalities to submit their information so that we could complete the register”, said Minister Angelkova. She explained that the ownership of these sites is being currently identified. According to the Ministry of Tourism an entrance fee for the tourist sites and attractions will be gradually introduced so that their conditions and accessibility can be improved. The initial list will be sent to the branch industry so that more comprehensive information is gathered. 

ESTI is to be updated so that information about the number of actual overnight stays of foreign and Bulgaria tourists can be submitted in real time. The goal is for ESTI to start functioning as a Unified Platform for Information transmitted via secure channels between the participants in the tourist register, the local authorities, the authorities of the Ministry of Interior and others. The changes are expected to expose the grey sector and increase revenues from tourism. 

Minister Angelkova outlined the measures for counteracting the drop in the early bookings of Russian and Ukrainian tourists. She informed that as a result of the Ministry’s cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the visa-issuing procedures for citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia have been facilitated.   At the same time a massive campaign for the promotion of Bulgaria on the Pan-European TV channels  (Eurosport, Euronews, Discovery, National Geographic) will also be launched and a contract will be signed with BBC for the promotion of the country. The goal is to attract an additional tourist flow from Europe which will compensate for the drop in the number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists.

The countries where Bulgaria will have its tourist attachés have also been defined. These are Spain, Germany, Russia, Turkey and Romania. According to Minister Angelkova Bulgaria should actively cooperate with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Hence, the country will have a permanent representative in Spain as the headquarters of the organization are located there.  Plans are also made for Bulgaria to have its tourist attaché in the Scandinavian countries and a representative that will be responsible for the Visegrad Group. Yet, their exact location remains to be defined.