National Meeting of the Tourism Society gathered the leaders of the industry in Hotel Marinela

How to position Bulgaria as a successful tourism destination by solving the problems in the industry and bringing together the efforts at the public discussion of the Tourism Act that is to come. These were the topics discussed by mayors from all of Bulgaria, representatives of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism, the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training, the Human Resource Development Centre, representatives from the National Tourism Board, hoteliers and representatives of the branch organizations. Martin Zahariev, member of the management board of the National Tourism Board initiated the meeting by saying: “This national meeting is symbolic, because it not only coincides with the induction of the new functional government, but also with the Chinese New Year. The year of the rooster will be a year of diversity, inspiration and an expectation for change. Hopefully our “tourism rooster” is happier than it is troubled in the new year. The gathering of the tourism community, not industry, is the correct formula for success. I hope that we have all matured enough to have realized that precisely the community will yield results. It is of exceptional importance that the government and the ministry of tourism support the industry so that our “tourism rooster” is happy. Three are the main problems that Blagoy Ragin, chairman of the management board of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association outlined at the National Meeting of the Tourism Society- price marketing, the lack of trained labor and international advertisement. Every year Croatia spends 100 million euro for international advertisement, Greece spends 160 million, while we want to do tourism. Despite the problems in the industry, last year there was a 12% increase in tourism, reported Rumen Draganov PhD- chairman of the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism, last year 10 million 567 thousand foreign tourists entered Bulgaria. To move in the right direction we need to increase the season and the attendance, to introduce more payment opportunities and health prevention vouchers. The biggest problem for our industry is the training of labor. What are we without our employees? Bulgaria has the unique chance to become a big tourism destination, which is why Victoria Group created the Centre “Hotel League”, whose main task is to train employees in the Bulgarian tourism, hoping that they become the future aces of the industry, said Kaloyan Nikolov, National Director Hotel Activities for Victoria Group. On focus at the National Meeting of the Tourism Society was precisely the introduction of the licensed center for vocational training “Hotel League”. In her presentation, Asya Pencheva PhD outlined the main directions in its work, namely conducting vocational group and individual trainings, corporate consultations and trainings on the spot for hotels and restaurants, development of and participation as a partner in European projects. Strong interest was created by the upcoming international trainings, the first of which is planned for the end of March in Dubai and is intended for middle managers around the country who want to improve their skills and competencies. Investing in human resource by ongoing training and skill development of employees created an opportunity for added value to the company. All participants in the National Meeting of the Tourism Society thanked the Arabadzhiev family for the initiative and the warm welcome.