I say it with a deeply contrite heart - we Bulgarians should not be merchants. This was shared in the program “This Saturday“ by historian Prof. Petar Stoyanovich.
He commented on several cases that greatly inflamed passions on social networks. One of them is the price of coffee and cake in Sozopol, which amounts to 27 euros.
“Last week in Northern Greece, a nice portion of squid, mussels, salad, and beer cost 9 euros“, said Prof. Stoyanovich.
“My long-term observations as a user of this infrastructure and light industry in Bulgaria - the tourist service, make me believe that the Bulgarian is generally not born to be a merchant. Unlike many of our neighboring nations“, he explained.
In his words, Bulgarians “want to have three children at the same time on one wedding night“.
“We have no attitude to service, we do not have the inner joy of the innkeeper to welcome his guests. We want to shave it off once, then have enough hair for two houses to paint for a whole year. It can't be done“, emphasized Prof. Stojanovic.
According to him, hospitality is something completely different. “We are already hospitable on a personal level. But such an industry cannot be hospitable. It must be organized, it must pursue minimum prices in order to attract the maximum audience, and it must work with some form of internal satisfaction“.
“The issue is that every second taxi driver in Bulgaria is a Russian count, every plumber is an engineer who simply tripped over a tram. And every woman who cleans actually wants to be Miss “World”, he believes.
According to Prof. Stojanovic, we cannot rely on hospitality alone. “The wrong understanding is what is holding us back. Hotel management, restaurant management, cooking, service are a craft. It is learned. It becomes part of you“.
“The waiter does not serve you. You are not his friend. These are very clear, very long-term learning moments for both the consumer and the service provider. It is a sad job, as with everything else. How do you make someone understand that they cannot drive on 4 rakia and a little white wine and want to surpass the world? This is learned“, he said.
Prof. Stojanovic shared that he is vacationing in Burgas. “This is the best place in the world. Both as a city, as a government, and as opportunities. Varna is a city with a thousand-year history, great beauties, a royal palace near it. And almost destroyed by the last government - mayoral and municipal. But the moment it lifts its nose, Varna will very quickly emerge. And the biggest hole can be made into a palace“.
“A year and a half ago, I saw in Turkey that the first charters of Western tourists were landing in January. That's when the first groups of Western pensioners began arriving, for whom it was more profitable and more pleasant to spend a month or two in the south than in their terrible northern apartments. Then the spring campaign, the summer, the autumn, even the early winter campaign begins“, said Prof. Stojanovic.
“And we don't have a concept, we don't have a way to convince hoteliers and restaurateurs to first understand the need for a common policy, the need to make the most of both the active and semi-active seasons“, he commented.
According to him, there is pressure - there are an extremely large number of smart people, including those in management positions, who see this. “The question is that with both the stupid driving and the bad teaching in some schools, a common, decent European strategy for the development of Bulgarian business must be imposed in the same way“.
“You can't serve bad food, you can't serve bad service, you can't lie. It's impossible to have such prices and claim that you will surpass Greeks and Turks. How can this work with a fresh juice for 8 euros?“, he asked.
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Source: btvnovinite.bg