Country Profile: Bulgaria
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Ecotourism ventures include
guided treks through Bulgaria’s
Central Balkan National Park. |
Historically, the Bulgarian tourism industry has focused on mass tourism, which caters to high-volume/low-value programs that do not significantly enhance the Bulgarian economy, and that do little to preserve the significant local cultural and environmental resources that make Bulgaria a unique tourist destination. To enhance its tourism opportunities, Bulgaria’s Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Growth (BCEG) project has developed an ecotourism niche market to help achieve multiple objectives, including nature conservation and biodiversity protection, rural development, government decentralization, and new employment opportunities. The BCEG project also promotes gender equity, helps reduce poverty, and enhances local governance.
The project worked in Bulgaria’s Rila National Park and Central Balkan National Park, and included activities such as eco-enterprise development, developing and implementing park management plans, and improving public awareness to ensure
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The medieval Rila Monastery lies at the heart
of Bulgaria’s mountainous Rila National Park. |
support for biodiversity conservation. A second phase expanded activities to the national level, developing a sustainable tourism policy and action plan that will be delivered through public/private partnerships, and that is anticipated to contribute significantly to Bulgaria’s growing Gross Domestic Product from 2004 through 2010. This National Plan is complemented by 12 Regional Action Plans.
Bulgaria: National and Regional Ecotourism Strategy Project factsheet
(1.48MB PDF)
UN-WTO Sustainable Tourism Forum presentation (337KB PDF)
Country Profile: Bulgaria (226KB PDF)
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