Bulgaria to Open Consular Office in Yekaterinburg by mid-June

A Bulgarian consular office will be opened in Yekaterinburg by mid-June, according to Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva.

Bobeva and Deputy Economy Minister Branimir Botev took part Sunday in a meeting with tourism industry representatives.

Bobeva, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), informed that bookings of Russian tourists were similar to the level in 2013 and the experts even expected a slight growth.

She noted that Bulgarian consular offices had been instructed to provide faster services to locals seeking to spend the holidays in Bulgaria, adding that the same applied to tourists from Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus.

Bobeva made clear that the authorities had taken steps to assist Belarusian tourists who wanted to spend the summer holidays in Bulgaria, adding that they would be granted Schengen visas by Slovakia and would use a diversionary route through this country in order to circumvent Ukraine.  Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister specified that the matter concerned around 100 000 tourists.

She announced that the idea to grant a concession for the airport in Balchik and Sofia Airport in one go had been reconsidered.

Bobeva declared that an analysis for a concession contract for the airport in Balchik was being prepared, adding that the study would determine the fate of the facility.

The airport in Balchik currently only accepts small aircraft and teams of customs officers from Varna are dispatched there whenever necessary,

Bobeva said that the Parliament was to vote on a set of amendments to the Tourism Act envisaging over 20 measures aimed at reducing the administrative burden in the sector.

Branimir Botev suggested that the number of tourist arrivals from western and central Europe was expected to increase in the upcoming season.

He specified that Bulgaria was taking steps to enhance tourism advertisement in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

Botev noted that the strategy for the development of the tourism by 2020 was to be approved by the government in a few weeks' time, after which it would reach Parliament.

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