Bulgaria’s Tourism Minister expects 50% increase in budget for advertising
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism will seek an increase of at least 50 per cent in the budget for advertising for 2020, minister Nikolina Angelkova said on July 22 after attending a National Tourism Board meeting.
The current budget is about 11 million leva (about 5.5 million euro). Angelkova said that she had received assurances from Prime Minister Boiko Borissov that the budget would be increased.
The proposed sum would become clear at the end of August, she said. Estimates were not yet ready.
Angelkova declined to comment on the trends in Bulgaria’s summer 2019 tourist season, saying that she was awaiting the figures for June.
She said that her ministry was holding meetings with representatives of tour operators from Germany, Russia and other major markets.
The comments come against a background of reports of a significant decline in tourist numbers in Bulgaria this summer, including on the domestic market.
At the same time, the past weekend saw record numbers of cars crossing from Bulgaria into Greece.
Angelkova previously has acknowledged that Bulgaria is losing out to other destinations, apparently in price terms, but also has referred to a “negative campaign” against Bulgaria, without giving details.
(Photo, of a beach at Sozopol on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
