Over 6 million foreign tourists have visited Bulgaria in 2016, which is 16% more as compared to 2015. Their total number, including Bulgarian tourists, exceeds 8 million. We have been making this statistics since 1991 and our data shows that 2016 has been the most successful year in terms of the number of people visiting that country, Bulgaria’s Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova announced several days ago.

“The number of tourists visiting this country in April and May 2016 saw a 15%-20% increase as compared to last year, which proves that the measures of the Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism and the tourism sector aimed at developing tourist products such as spa, cultural, wine, gourmet and golf tourism yielded positive results. We have to offer different tourist products, because international completion in that sector is severe. Moreover, tourists have also changed over the years. Along with the traditional holiday, they look for additional services, in order to have a different experience in a given tourist destination.”

According to Eurostat, the number of tourists visiting Bulgaria has also increased. In the first six months of 2016 Bulgaria placed first in the EU as per the growth in the number of nights spent in hotel accommodation. However, that country has to make more efforts, in order to boost the quality of its tourist services and guarantee steadfast development of the tourism sector. It needs most of all well-educated and qualified personnel in tourism.

Each year Bulgarian hotel owners and restaurant keepers experience problems finding qualified and trained personnel. 70% of the jobs in Bulgaria’s tourism sector are seasonal, hotel-keeper Grigor Fidanov said at a discussion about the lack of personnel in tourism. The event was part of the national campaign named Study to Work.

According to data of the Bulgarian Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, nearly 170,000 people are employed at the tourism field, which needs another 14,000 people, in order to function normally. The Labor Mobility Act allows Bulgarian companies to employ seasonal workers from non-EU countries such as Ukraine and Moldova for three months.

The lack of barmen and receptionists in the tourism sector is highest. However, official data show that pupils studying at professional high-schools of tourism show less interest in those professions. A total of 14,700 young Bulgarians study at those high-schools. It is difficult to tell what they will do after they graduate from school. Various Bulgarian institutions have been trying to find an answer to that question, but all of them have a common goal- to ensure a better quality of the tourist services in Bulgaria, because the newly-built hotels, favorable climate and beautiful nature are only part of the tourism product.

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism has been working towards organizing short qualification courses, Minister Angelkova explained and added:

“The main problem we have been discussing with representatives of the tourism sector regards the lack of practical training and personnel in that field. We have been studying the experience of countries such as France, Portugal and Spain, in order to establish a qualification center for different professions in tourism. The qualification courses would last between three months and one year. We have been debating at the interdepartmental council how to use that foreign experience in Bulgaria.”

The Bulgarian Ministry of Labor and Social Policies provided an opportunity to the Bulgarian employers to apply for EU financing. Three schemes provide EU money to the tune of over EUR 50 million. They offer flexible training and employment opportunities which allow the local business to form the necessary competence and skills in their personnel. The Regions in Growth EU Operational Programme also allows companies from the tourism sector to apply for financing, Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Denitsa Nikolova said.

It became clear that the tourism sector will have a series of opportunities for training and qualification in the next few years. If local employers and workers show the necessary interest, Bulgaria will have a highly-qualified personnel and offer high-quality tourist product and better service. As a result, the number of tourists visiting that country will continue to increase which would guarantee steadfast development of the country’s tourism.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov