Bulgarian tourists in Serbia have increased more than three times over the past ten years. Last year, more than 430,000 Bulgarians visited Serbia, while 400,000 Serbs were in Bulgaria. This was announced by Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelova during the presentation of the Tourist Organization of Serbia before officially opening the 35th Holiday & Spa Expo, which takes place on 14th and 16th of February in Sofia.
Bulgaria and Serbia are preparing the signing of a cooperation agreement on tourism. Continuing work on joint projects on cultural and historical heritage and on distant markets. Among them are "The Wine Route" and "The Road to the Roman Emperors," said Renata Pinja, Deputy Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia. Bulgaria is among the top ten countries with the largest number of tourists visiting Serbia, said Maria Labovic, Executive Director of the Country Tourism Organization. The most popular destinations for the Bulgarians are Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad.
Belgrade attracts with its 96 hotels and about 6,000 restaurants and cafes, sports and cultural events, concerts of Balkan and world stars. The winter in Belgrade is a few months, so is our cultural program, said Slobodan Unkovic, Deputy Director of the Belgrade Tourist Organization.
For the first time in the 35-year-old tourism trade organization, we have a partner country, and that is Serbia, said Vihra Ognyanova. 360 travel companies from 23 countries participate in the exhibition. This is an increase of 9 per cent compared to a year earlier. Fifty municipalities, tourist centers and museums from all over the country present a rich palette of Bulgaria as a tourist destination. Digital transformation in tourism is one of the topics to be discussed during the event. Online travel service platforms are becoming more and more preferred not only by customers but also by tour operators. The exhibition offers everything - along with the traditional summer and terrestrial tourism, there are more adventurous tours in Bulgaria and abroad, beauty, spa, wine, cultural, rural tourism, etc.
