The high-circulation Turkish newspaper “Milliyet“ is these days offering its readers a special edition in an application dedicated to the famous winter resort center of Bulgaria – Bansko, BTA reported.
The application, which is the first of its kind, is luxuriously designed and contains 32 pages of text and photo material. It is available free of charge.
The head of the editorial team of the publication is Ismail Shahin – a long-time journalist at “Milliet“, who is the author of numerous publications in the newspaper related to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Sunday school in Istanbul, the community of Orthodox Bulgarians and others.
The fact that he speaks Bulgarian, which he studied at the Varna University of Economics, is a factor that facilitates his work on these topics, he told BTA.
“Bansko, the most famous ski resort in Bulgaria, has become an alternative for Turkish tourists from Istanbul and the surrounding areas after the tragedy with the fire in Kartalkaya - the closest ski resort to Istanbul, which took the lives of 78 people and injured dozens. Subsequent changes in regulations regarding the safety of hotel buildings led to the closure of 60 percent of the facilities in the Uludag winter resort near Bursa. With its 75 kilometers of slopes, Bansko is well known to Turkish tourists, who are among the leading foreign visitors during the winter season. But its thermal springs, the hiking trails in the Pirin Mountains, the festivals, the cultural and historical landmarks and the gastronomy are not well known to the Turks. I wanted to draw attention to all this. About 1.5 million people in Turkey vacation in the high mountain regions in the summer – why not go to Bansko“, Şahin told BTA exclusively.
According to him, the application of the newspaper „Milliet“ for Bansko is the only one of its kind so far. The newspaper has received support from the Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism, as well as from the municipalities of Bansko and Razlog.
The Turkish journalist also said that he used the opportunity to introduce Vice President Iliana Yotova to the new application of „Milliet“ for Bansko during her visit to the Bulgarian church „St. Stephen“ in Istanbul on December 27 this year.
„In our brief conversation after the service in the church „St. Stephen“ Ms. Yotova expressed satisfaction with the development of relations between Turkey and Bulgaria in the field of tourism. She emphasized that the aspiration of Bulgaria, which is a small country but has many beautiful tourist areas, is for Turkish tourists to get to know them and leave Bulgaria satisfied,“ the Turkish journalist pointed out.
He added that they will continue to implement similar promotional projects like the one for Bansko together with other municipalities and the Ministry of Tourism, focusing on cultural, sea, spa and gastronomic tourism in Bulgaria.
And some of the headlines in the supplement of the Turkish newspaper “Milliet“ for Bansko are: “The well-known Bulgarian town of Bansko“, “The most accessible winter resort for Turkish tourists“, “International quality standard“, “History, traditions and unforgettable experiences“, “Spa town nestled between three beautiful mountains“, “The International Carnival “Starchevata“ in Razlog“.
Information is also provided about the prices of tourist services, travel options, restaurants, interesting sites in the area, such as Baba Vanga's house in Petrich, and others. The publication is richly illustrated with photographs.