Bulgaria plans cultural tourism drive
Bulgaria is looking to spark life into its tourist sector with a concerted plan to leverage history and culture to attract visitors...
Bulgarian ministers, archeologists, businessmen and tour operators joined around these ideas on Sunday, during a national debate on the culture tourism, organized by the Bulgarian daily "Standart," held in the Arena di Serdika hotel in downtown Sofia.
The Minister without portfolio for Bulgarians Abroad, Bozhidar Dimitrov, who is also a renowned historian, explained Bulgaria suffers from the poor management of its historical tourist sites where the State has abdicated its responsibilities, leaving their running to local municipalities, which often are careless about them and fail to reinvest the revenues.
According to Dimitrov, the difference between Bulgaria and Italy and Greece is that the country's culture heritage is underground and in the form of ruins, for this reason it must invest not only in archeology excavations, but in restoration, conservation, and infrastructure.
The Minister also pointed out the lack of adequate advertisement both on the part of archeologists and tour operators continues to be a huge problem for the country's tourism, and gave as an example author Dimitar Nedkov and his bestseller "The Bulgarian's Sign," which after appearing on bookstands increased revenues and visits at the Zemen Monastery over 5 times.
One of Bulgaria's top archeologist, Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov informed the country has about 43 000 registered historical sites and archeology now draws a larger number of tourists, pointing at the famous Thracian rock city and sanctuary of Perperikon attracting 250 visitors per year compared to 0 just 10 years ago.
Sofia's Mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, reported there is a plan to display the relics of St. John the Baptist in Sofia, after they travel abroad, adding the relics will attract not only Bulgarian visitors but pilgrims from Greece and Serbia.
The "Standart" Editor-in-Chief, Slavka Bozukova, informed representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have been invited to the discussion, but for unknown reasons did not appear. Bozukova voiced hope the clergy would allow the relics to be transported to Sofia for the Day of the Christian Family.
Source: Sofia News Agency