Representatives of major Turkish tour operators and travel agents will visit Bulgaria for a working meeting with Bulgarian colleagues to discuss the development of joint tourist products for far-off markets like China.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova summarized Thursday the outcome of her meeting with Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Abdurrahman Ar?c? and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas.

Ar?c? and Topbas visited the Bulgarian stall at the “East Mediterranean International Travel & Tourism Exhibition 2015” (EMITT) in Istanbul, according to the press office of Bulgaria’s Tourism Ministry.

During Thursday’s meeting, Angelkova, Ar?c?, and Topbas discussed the increased interest in Bulgaria as a tourist destination after the simplification of the visa issuance procedure.

Angelkova made clear that preliminary data indicated 30-40% year-on-year growth in the number of Turkish tourists in Bulgarian ski resorts.

She claimed that Turkish tour operators had boasted that they were already taking advantage of the opportunity to submit and receive tourist visas electronically within 1-2 days, adding that this helped Bulgaria gain ground on the Turkish market.

Angelkova said that she had agreed with Topbas to organize days of Bulgaria in Istanbul and days of Turkey in Sofia, adding that it was an opportunity to increase Bulgaria’s popularity in the country and to boost contacts between local and central authorities and between Bulgarian and Turkish business entities.

Bulgaria takes part in EMITT-2015 with a stall of nearly 100 square meters whose main organizer is the Tourism Ministry.
A total of 24 Bulgarian tourism companies, municipal administrations, and tourist associations are represented at the expo.