A large number of the licensed tour operators in Bulgaria have not obtained the compulsory professional liability insurance, people in the business sounded alarm.

Out of 970 licensed tour operators only 360 have paid for such insurances.

Without professional liability insurance the license is not valid, Donka Sokolova, chair of the Bulgarian Association of Tourism Agencies, told the bTV television.

"The license is very important but according to the new regulations the insurance certificates should be displayed in such a fashion so that makes them really visible," she pointed out.

Sokolova also stressed that the illegal operators working in Bulgaria make for truly vast number as there are also many who have not obtained a license at all.