The Balchik Palace ends the year with a certificate for its contribution in promoting Bulgaria as a successful tourist destination, said Zheni Mihaylova, Director of State Cultural Institute Cultural Centre “The Palace” - Balchik, quoted by Focus Radio.

The prestigious recognition was awarded by a local business association. Last year the palace received a prize as Bulgarian tourist site of 2017, a prize for cultural tourism development from the international fair Vacation and SPA Expo, and a prize for cultural heritage development and preservation for its activities as part of the European project Heritage-friendly Cross-border Economy in Romania and Bulgaria.

In 2018, the institute recorded a quite rich cultural life with 27 exhibitions, including prominent Bulgarian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries and a 14th century jade amulet found by archaeologists on Cape Kaliakra in 2017.

The total number of visitors to the palace increased to 258,380 in 2018 from 231,372 last year, mainly Romanian tourists, Bulgarians and Russians. This trend continues since last year. An increasing number of Spanish tourists are visiting the complex – 1,025 this year compared to 304 in 2017, Mihaylova said.