About 5 mln eur Have Been Invested in the Development of Bulgaria's Cultural Tourism

19 different projects worth 4 726 mln EUR have been designed for the development of Bulgarian cultural tourism. The funds have been allocated through PHARE grant scheme ‘Development Of Cultural Tourism In Bulgaria’. All of them were utilized between 30 November 2003 – 30 May 2005 under the control of the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Culture.

The funds were used for infrastructure development, for the creation/promotion of new cultural itineraries, for the restoration of cultural and historical objects. Pomorie and Sozopol were among the places included in the grant scheme.

Some of the objects funded through the program are already promoted in Bulgaria and abroad. This year for the first time Bulgaria participated in IATA World Travel Fair which was held in Tokyo. 800 exhibitors from 110 countries promoted their products. As many as 104 204 people visited the fair. The Bulgarian offers included cultural tours to UNESCO’s designated world heritage sites, Sofia, Veliko Turnovo, monasteries, museums, village tourism, etc. For the first seven months of 2005 the number of Japanese tourists was 5043, which is 7.5% more than the same period of 2004.

Author: Maria Atanasova
Capital Newspaper