OPEN LETTER OF THE TOURISM BRANCH

Dear friends, in connection with the published open letter of tourist associations, in which the candidacy of Martin Zahariev for the Minister of Tourism is proposed, we would like to clearly clarify that the Plovdiv hotels union maintains neutrality and openly states that it has no intention and purpose to participate in political decisions, actions and proposals. The undersigned Association of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs – Plovdiv, probably names the Plovdiv branch of BHRA, which we do not want to be identified and associated with with the Plovdiv hotels union, as these are two different legal entities.
As professionals fighting to develop business in the oldest city in Europe, we want to clearly state that all our actions and intentions have been and will be directly subordinated to the development of the city of Plovdiv as a tourist destination and improvement of the tourist climate for all visitors to our city.
Plovdiv hotels union

Mr. BOYKO BORISOV

CHAIRMAN OF GERB

MR RUMEN CHRISTOV

CHAIRMAN OF SDS

MR ASEN VASILEV AND MR KIRILL PETKOV

CO-CHAIRS OF KEEPING THE CHANGE ON

MR ATANAS ATANASOV AND MR HRISTO IVANOV

CO-PRESIDENTS OF DEMOCRATIC BULGARIA

MRS MARIA GABRIEL

CANDIDATE FOR MINISTER-PRESIDENT

OPEN LETTER

from

National Board of Tourism (NBT)

Bulgarian Tourist Board (BTC)

Bulgarian Tourism Association (BAT)

The Association of Restaurants in Bulgaria (SZB)

The Bulgarian Association of Restaurants (BAZ)

Branch association of restaurateurs – Sofia

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Blagoevgrad

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Velingrad and Western Rhodopes

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Sliven

Tourism Association – Kyustendil

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Kardzhali

Union of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Yambol

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Plovdiv

Association of hoteliers and restaurateurs – Silistra

No more political appointments in tourism! The united branch with a proposal for priorities and candidacy for Minister of Tourism

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

On this day in 2020, Bulgarian tourism suffered one of the biggest crises in its history! A huge part of the industry was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Difficult days, weeks, months and years followed, in which we fought not only for our recovery, but for the survival of the industry in general.

Times have changed, the “black” March 13, 2020 is now behind us, but the consequences of the restrictions will haunt us for a long time. We are also facing new challenges – the war in Ukraine, the high inflation, the uncertain environment in Bulgaria, the incompetent management of the sector in recent years…

Today, four years later, we are more united than ever. And although the consequences of the many crises we are going through are far from erased, we believe that we will emerge from them stronger and more competitive.

We are convinced that the time has come for tourism to become a national priority not only in words, but also in deeds! And that is precisely why, in the midst of the negotiations for the formation of a new government, one of the largest tourism organizations in Bulgaria is coming out with specific proposals for priorities and a nomination for Minister of Tourism.

For us, it does not matter which political force will manage Bulgarian tourism by virtue of the rotation, but we are already firmly of the opinion that there should be no more political appointments in tourism! The ministry must be headed by a proven expert whom the industry trusts and who has the qualities to lead it in the right direction, implement the long-awaited reforms and position it in a more favorable position compared to our main competitors.

The undersigned non-governmental organizations, all legitimately registered in the register of tourism associations of the line ministry, support for Minister of Tourism Dr. Martin Zahariev, Deputy Chairman of the National Board of Tourism, at the present time!

Dr. Zahariev has always had his civil and expert positions, which he has defended since the Ministry of Tourism was established in 2014. He has the necessary administrative and managerial experience to apply them in his capacity as Minister of Tourism.

Dr. Martin Zahariev graduated in law at Sofia University, specialized in media management in the USA and England, and defended his thesis “Digitalization of Business in Tourism”. For the past 30 years, he has been involved in private business in the fields of media, telecommunications, marketing, high technology and tourism. He was a deputy in the 42nd National Assembly as a citizen quota.

It receives a credit of trust from us and we believe it will live up to our expectations.

Our organizations also united around 10 main priorities that Dr. Martin Zahariev and his team must implement within the full term of the mandate.

We emphasize that we will not be uncritical, but we will be a constructive corrective to everything that happens in Bulgarian tourism.

OUR PROPOSED PRIORITIES ARE:

PRIORITIZATION OF THE TOURISM SECTOR AS STATE POLICY AND ITS CORRESPONDING DECENT FINANCING IN THE 2025 BUDGET.
DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF A WHOLE NEW NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA – URGENT UPDATE!
CONSOLIDATION OF THE TOURIST ASSOCIATIONS IN THE SECTOR BY CREATING A NATIONAL HOTEL AND RESTAURANT CHAMBER AND A NATIONAL TOURIST ORGANIZATION
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE SECTOR. UNIFORM INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATION OF DATA AND REGISTERS IN THE TOURISM SECTOR
A NEW APPROACH TO THE NATIONAL MARKETING OF DESTINATION BULGARIA AS PART OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT CONCEPT OF BUILDING “BRAND BULGARIA”.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND WORKFORCE THROUGH FORMS OF DUAL TRAINING AND PAID INTERNSHIPS
CREATION OF A GUARANTEE FUND TO ENSURE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TOUR OPERATORS, WHICH IS A GUARANTEE FOR THE RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS IN CASE OF UNREALISHED TRIPS.
FACILITATION OF THE ELECTRONIC VISAS ISSUANCE PROCESS, IN CONNECTION WITH THE COMMON EU VISA POLICY.
FOCUS ON NATIONAL RESORTS, WHICH ARE THE FACE OF BULGARIAN TOURISM. THEY SHOULD BE DEVELOPED WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF CONVERTING THEM INTO A YEAR-ROUND DESTINATION USING THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. DEVELOPING A SUB-LEGAL REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ADAPTED TO MODERN CHALLENGES TO REGULATE THE STATUS OF OUR NATIONAL RESORTS
ACTIVE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE 49TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

With respect: