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Minister Angelkova had a discussion with Gloria Guevara, manager of WTTC, in Madrid
The minister of tourism Nikolina Angelkova had a workshop in Madrid with Gloria Guevara, chairperson and senior executive director of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The meeting took place within the 38th International Tourism Fair FITUR, one of the biggest in the world.
Minister Angelkova described the importance and potential of the Bulgarian tourism for the sustainable development of the country as an all-year destination with an almost 12% contribution to the GDP. She emphasized the achieved record results with regards to the number of tourist visits and revenues from the sector for the years following the establishment of the institution in the end of 2014. “We consistently build on the achieved results and participate actively in initiatives of the international tourist organizations,” said minister Angelkova during the meeting.
The Bulgarian minister drew attention to the role of the investments and activities for the popularization of the internal tourism which would be a leading trend in the advertising and marketing policy of the department for the current and following years. She emphasized that the ministry would depend on the support of the WTTC for the organization of the forum for sustainable investments in tourism, planned for the end of March 2019 in the biggest and most popular Bulgarian sea resort – Sunny Beach. It attracts not only many tourists of different age and preferences but also a big number of enterpreneurs.
“Having in mind the first-ever forum of the European leaders of the WTTC which took place in Portugal last year, we have decided to organize a forum, devoted to unlocking the investment potential for tourism in South-East Europe with a special emphasis on sustainability,” said also minister Angelkova. “As WTTC is an international organization which represents the private sector, it will be our honour to have such a partner to stimulate the sustainable development of the sector,” emphasized the minister.
She also advised that over the last few years there had been a considerable interest by foreign investment funds for potential projects in the region. “Regional key investors and representatives of countries with extensive knowledge and experience in attracting such investments in infrastructure and services will be invited for the event. The Ministry, with the assistance of the municipalities and business representatives, has already created a map of the investment tourist projects in the region as an initial stage of this process.”
The chairperson of WTTC Gloria Guevara congratulated the team of minister Angelkova on the achieved excellent results. Such would undoubtedly be a prerequisite for sustainability. During the meeting it became clear that the World Council would continue to encourage similar policies as they encouraged economic growth, development of the regions and higher employment.
According to data from the WTTC reports, the tourist sector in South-East Europe will grow considerably. The forecasts of the organization indicate that for Bulgaria the sector’s growth is expected to be over 50% for the next 10 years which will make it an essential part of the GDP of the country.
