Bulgaria’s food agency wants changes to rules on all-inclusive hotels
Bulgaria’s summer tourist season is getting underway and the Food Safety Agency is proposing that all-inclusive holiday packages may be offered only at four- and five-star hotels and those three-star hotels that have a restaurant capacity for at least 60 per cent of all guests.
The head of the agency, Yordan Voynov, said in an interview with news agency BTA that the agency has suggested to the Economy, Tourism and Energy Ministry to amend the tourism regulations in this regard.
Voynov said that the suggestion was prompted by certain “anomalies” found by agency inspectors last year, for example a hotel with 1000 beds and only 30 seats in the restaurant.
“Hotels with three stars or less must have a restaurant capacity corresponding to the accommodation capacity,” Voynov said. “If it the hotel has 100 beds, it must have at least 60 seats in the restaurant.”
Since the end of May 2012, agency representatives have been out in force, carrying out inspections at seaside resorts – food stores, restaurants, hotel complexes and all-inclusive services.
In 2011, more than 300 hotels were fined for low quality all-inclusive services – food the origin of which was unclear, expired use-by dates and inappropriate storage temperatures.
(Photo: Hristina Dimitrova)
