Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Tour operators call for state aid, but tourist sector is divided

Protest of tour operators in Sofia, March 2,2021
Photo: BTA

Representatives of the tourism industry from the association "Future for Tourism" have organized a protest in front of the Council of Ministers in central Sofia. They are calling for state aid because of the pandemic. They want a reduction of VAT for tourism to 5% in the next 2 years. They also want an extension of the period for refund of prepaid amounts for cancelled trips abroad, which expires on March 13. It is demanded that a state guarantee fund of 35 million euros be created to cover the money to their clients.


The Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents told BNR's Horizon program that they did not support the protest. They believe that this will create inequality in the sector in relation to state aid.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Myara agency: Crimes and incidents continue to be a major source of tension

Social tensions from 1 July until 30 September this year are estimated at an index of 6.09, meaning “risks that are difficult to control”, on a scale of 1 to 210, indicates a survey by the sociological agency Myara, the Bulgarian news agency BTA..

published on 10/21/25 4:09 PM
Parliament building

The ruling coalition discuss the future of the cabinet behind closed doors

A meeting of the coalition partners took place early this morning, during a sitting of the National Assembly, to discuss the possible reformatting of the government. Such a change was first made mention of by GERB leader Boyko Borissov after his party..

updated on 10/21/25 3:12 PM

Within the space of 1 month, Bulgaria is mentioned 7 times as a country connected with dangerous food

In September, Bulgaria was mentioned as a country connected with dangerous food 7 times, indicate data of the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), BNR’s Vesselina Milanova reports. Over the same period this country has reported..

published on 10/21/25 3:09 PM