I think that Varna should have hosted "Eurovision 2027", but the choice of Burgas also provides a huge opportunity to promote the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. This was stated to "Nova TV" by the Minister of Tourism Ilin Dimitrov.
He admitted that he was surprised that Burgas won, and specified that he did not participate in the selection of the host city, news.bg pointed out.
However, according to him, the decision should be used as best as possible for the development of tourism in our country. "From the very beginning, I hoped it would be Varna, but now we have the opportunity to show the Black Sea Coast to the whole world. This will be the best start to the tourist season," the minister is convinced.
He noted that the region around Burgas has a large bed base, including many four- and five-star hotels. According to him, the main problem could be transport connectivity. "There will be problems with transport, which is why we have already started negotiations and projects", Dimitrov pointed out.
The Ministry of Tourism is also preparing a wide program of events in the country. Over 100 activities related to the promotion of Bulgaria are expected to be organized. "The most important thing is to show Bulgaria in our best light and send positive messages," the minister emphasized.
He gave the example of Vienna, where around the holding of "Eurovision" over 370,000 positive messages about the city and the region were generated. He said that the organizers considered it a mistake to focus the events too much on Vienna. "We will learn from this mistake and will also organize events in Plovdiv, Varna, Sofia and Burgas", explained Dimitrov.
The minister also commented on concerns about a sharp increase in prices due to the expected influx of tourists. "With hundreds of thousands of beds and huge opportunities, some people are trying to profit from speculation, but I assure you that the prices will be good. We have an extremely wide choice of accommodation," he emphasized.
Dimitrov also announced that active work is already underway on transport and air connectivity. The ministry is in talks with major airlines that are launching new routes, with the aim of maintaining them after "Eurovision".
According to Dimitrov, the current tourist season has started weaker.
"This year the tourist season is not very strong and that is because the colleagues from the Ministry of Tourism did not do their job last year. In tourism, we work one year ahead. Now we are working hard for the next season," he noted.
According to Eurostat data, the tourist season in Bulgaria has started with weak indicators. The data for July are similar to those from last year. "We cannot talk about a major decline, but we are actively working to correct the mistakes of the previous administrations. We need more air connectivity and good advertising," the minister commented.
Regarding the upcoming register of attractions, Dimitrov stressed that the regulation itself cannot replace the personal responsibility of drivers.
The minister assured that the legal deadline will be met and the regulation will be published by the end of the month.
It is also planned to create a tourism observatory, which will start operating next month. The goal is to analyze the quality of the tourism product, and attention will also be paid to higher education and the training of personnel for the sector.