Bulgaria's tourism is in a poor state mainly because of the country's bad infrastructure and the lack of advertising, State Tourism Agency experts believe.

They have now created a task force group to work together with the Regional Development Ministry and assign priorities to investments in infrastructure, the agency's head Mario Al-Jebouri has said.

Bulgaria should focus on improving roads, adding signs wherever needed and marking all tourist sites, Al-Jebouri explained. He added that the concession of Varna and Burgas airports at the seaside should be finalized as soon as possible.

European funding and the local budget should help finance all the renovations and repairs, so that Bulgaria increases further its appeal to foreign tourists.

Still, Bulgaria's popularity is on the rise and a total of 3,716,193 tourists have visited the country during the first 8 months of 2006, close to six percent more than in the same period of 2005. Tourists are also spending more and the country has bagged EUR 1.16 B from January to August. This adds up to a four-percent increase compared to last year.

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