Wineries will be the new tourist attraction of Bulgaria

The initiative “Share Bulgaria” will develop the concept of “slow” (slow)* tourism in Bulgaria, whose idea is related to the preservation of the traditions and culture of the regions, with an emphasis on promoting local food, wines and customs. At a press conference held on 23.10.2017, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture decided to join forces in a joint project that will promote our country as a destination for wine, culinary and cultural-historical tourism.

The “Share Bulgaria” project will contribute to turning Bulgaria into a four-season destination. In recent years, more and more wineries with tasting and accommodation facilities have been established. Many of them are located near well-known tourist attractions, which allows them to be packaged into an integrated tourism product and to be offered as places for recreation not only to Bulgarian, but also to foreign tourists.

“Wine and culinary destinations are important not only for tourism, but also for Bulgarian producers. They will provide an opportunity for unique domestic wines and products to reach more consumers, including foreigners,” said at the meeting the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Rumen Porozhanov. In addition to providing new markets for Bulgarian producers, discussions have begun on the 12 wine and culinary destinations that will welcome guests and safeguard the good name of our country. The destinations will first be submitted for public consultation with all stakeholders – hoteliers, tour operators, producers of wine and food, municipalities, before being officially announced.

The Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova noted that the destinations will be digitalized and included in the “I Love Bulgaria” platform, which promotes the 100 national tourist sites.

In recent years, Bulgaria has been successfully building its image as a wine country. This is also evidenced by its ambition to work actively on certain specific aspects concerning global wine production within the framework of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. At the closing of the 40th jubilee Congress of Vine and Wine, held in the summer, the Chairman of the National Vine and Wine Chamber in Bulgaria, Radoslav Radev, supported the idea of developing and integrating a special QR code. Thanks to it, Bulgarian wine will be easily recognizable throughout the world.

* The term “slow tourism” emerged in Italy in the 1980s. The idea is to promote local traditional production as an antipode to the increasingly prevalent fast food and the related socio-economic problems. Later, at the beginning of 2000, the movement branched into two directions – “Slow Food” and “Slow Tourism”. In Bulgaria the initiative remained little known until 2004, when our country joined the youth movement of Slow Food, thereby becoming part of this international non-governmental organization, which strives to preserve local culinary traditions. In recent years, slow tourism has also been increasingly established as a concept for travel and recreation.