Pomorie Municipality organizes a bazaar for producers, artisans and traders in the very center of Pomorie. Great. However, it clearly does not have its own tents and advertising vinyls, so it uses those of the Burgas Municipality, probably left over from events surrounding the “Giro d’Italia“.
So, in the middle of Pomorie, visitors see advertisements for Chengene Skele, Atanasovsko Lake, St. Anastasia Island, the Sea Garden, Burgas museums, monuments and other tourist attractions of the neighboring municipality.
I have absolutely nothing against advertising Burgas. On the contrary. Burgas has something to show and does it consistently and professionally.
But the job of the Pomorie Municipality is to advertise Pomorie. To show Anhialo and its thousand-year history, the old Pomorie houses, the “St. George“ monastery, the Thracian domed tomb, the Salt Museum, the Pomorie Lake, the mud and lye, the wine, the beaches and the sea, the culture, the local producers and craftsmen...
Everything that turns Pomorie not just into a place to stay, but into a tourist destination with its own identity.
Because the Pomorie Municipality receives local taxes and fees from the citizens and businesses of Pomorie. And one of its main tasks is to work for the development and promotion of Pomorie.
Organizing a bazaar in the center of a resort town at the height of the tourist season and branding it with the sights of a neighboring municipality is no small blunder. This is a clear example of the lack of a basic concept of how to build and protect the tourist image of a city.
I have been observing the managerial “creations“ of Mayor Ivan Aleksiev and his team all summer and until now I have been silent. Not because I have nothing to say, but because I don't want the public scandals surrounding the local government to turn into anti-advertising for Pomorie during the active tourist season.
But patience also has its limits!
So far, my assessment of their work this summer has been categorically negative, with one of the few events that deserves a positive assessment being the Swimming Marathon.
And this story with the Burgas vinyls is simply the height of simplicity. It is so symbolic that it is difficult to come up with a better political satire.
The mayor of Pomorie and regional coordinator of the GERB Political Party is advertising Burgas in the center of Pomorie.
Okay. When local elections come in a year, Ivan Aleksiev can go and campaign in Burgas to vote for him and GERB.
Pomorie is not a backdrop to Burgas. Pomorie has its own history, its own face and its own name. And it deserves a local government that at least knows which city it governs.