Holiday and Spa Expo 2011 opens in Sofia
The tasting of live beer, refined Bulgarian and foreign wines, tequila, Turkish tea and traditional disserts, as well as Serbian specialties are only a small part of the temptations which the residents and guests of Sofia can yield to 17-19 February at the Holiday and Spa Expo 2011 at the Sofia-based National Palace of Culture. The expo will also present authentic Bulgarian customs, songs and dances. It runs for a 28th year in a row, having become a most prestigious and large-scale event for Bulgarian tourism. The expo is organized by Prim Expo and is under the patronage of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism. The exhibition will feature 290 participants, with 50 of them being foreign producers and tour operators from 17 countries. Several Bulgarian municipalities, local councils of tourism and tourist information centres will share their experience in the sector at a representative stand of Bulgaria’s Economy Ministry. Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Tunis are also taking part in the expo. Among new exhibitors are the National Tourism Organization of Serbia, Booking.com, one of the biggest online hotel reservation companies, as well as tourist agencies from India, Israel, Venezuela, Spain and Switzerland. During the Holiday and Spa Expo the exhibitors will present their new products and programmes, while visitors will be able to make on-spot bookings. Many tourist agencies will be offering 10-20% discounts.
“This year the Bulgarian tourist agencies are coming up with new programmes and products targeting a larger segment of production”, said Irena Georgieva, Chairperson of the board of the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents. “A common European tendency in the sector is the outbound tourism that includes a new type of specialized youth programmes, which have very good and reasonable prices, as well as the Golden Age 55+ Programmes. I think that the Bulgarian tour operators are fast and adequately orienting themselves in this direction. As for the attraction of foreign tourists, Bulgarian operators maintain adequate prices being flexible to their traditional markets and looking for new ones, too. “Irena Georgieva told Radio Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian tourist agencies target not only European markets, but also more remote and larger ones, such as those in Asia and more specifically China. The expo envisages a host of presentations, discussions and round tables dedicated to topical issues concerning the tourism in the country. One such issue, for example, is a new tourism bill currently being drawn up in Bulgaria. According to Lyubomir Popyordanov, Chair of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism, a most important debate topic is what direction Bulgarian tourism should take.
“Bulgaria should set on the tourism that values and turns the country’s villages into tourist destinations”, Lyubomir Popyordanov reckons. “Bulgaria has a real chance to achieve such a goal, which can solve a lot of urgent problems of the Bulgarian society. The now-depopulated villages need to be socialized. People need to go back to them and start afresh farming the country’s exceptionally fertile lands. Once again Bulgaria has to start producing fruit and vegetables. We aim to engage a big part of the Bulgarian nation in creating this alternative type of tourism in stead of leaving it rest only with big businesses. Tourism is a tool for development. We should also focus on the development of eco and adventure tourism. Bulgaria’s fertile lands, sun and nature are also an excellent opportunity for the development of high-quality wine tourism. The country has already got good places for wine tourism but they should increase in number. Another niche is Bulgaria’s rich culture and heritage, which can be used to create original tourist programmes. Bulgaria’s trademark is a lack of urbanization and preserved virgin nature, which we should treasure at all costs”, Lyubomir Popyordanov says in conclusion.
Text and photo: bnr.bg
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Presentation of Mirela Real Estate