Meeting of the National Tourism Board Association on 27 June 2017

The National Tourism Board Association held a meeting on 27 June 2017.

The meeting opened with the approval of a new member of the NTB Managing Board – Mr. Miroslav Pechev, representative of Mirad OOD. The membership application was presented by Mr. Borislav Avramov, General Manager of Vitosha Park Hotel.

The Managing Director of NTB, Mr. Martin Zahariev, reported on the results of the 4th NTB Congress, held on 7 June 2017, noting that the Association is on track with the operational tasks set for the trimester: adding new members, starting an NTB website, organising a congress.

Mr. Zahariev said that the Congress has been quite successful, also attracting considerable presence from government institutions – namely the tourism minister, deputy ministers, representatives of government agencies, commissions, Parliament, as well as the HOTREC Vice President, Mr. Ákos Niklai.

Mr. Zahariev pointed out that it was the Congress that generated the idea to found a united hoteliers organisation in Bulgaria, which could then proceed to apply for membership in IHRA and HOTREC.

Mr. Henning Krippendorff delivered a presentation on HOTREC, followed by a discussion as to whether NTB would potentially be eligible to apply for membership.

At the meeting, Doc. Draganov, Chair of the NTB Supervisory Board, made a summary of the Association’s activities, including the creation of the NTB Platform, and elaborated on the need to form a structured National Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association from amongst all registered legal entities, as well as similar associations of tour operators and travel agents, and of the tour guides, which would require convening three congresses with the relevant representatives.

On Mr. Zahariev’s proposal, the members also agreed that preparations should start for signing a frame agreement with Prophon and Musicautor on the same preferential terms as the agreement with BHRA.

Mrs. Polly Karastoyanova, Deputy Chair of the NTB Managing Board, proposed the programme till the end of 2017, including interaction with the Ministry of Environment and Waters for resolving the problems with the development of mountain tourism; interaction of the tourism industry with the Government and access to the decision-making process in connection with the preparation of Bulgaria’s detailed plan for its Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018, plus discussing the Ministry of Tourism’s 2018 budget, including the activities relating to marketing, advertising and Bulgaria’s positioning on the global tourism market, as well as looking for new tourism markets.

The NTB members accepted her proposals, and also the new topic tabled by Mr. Ivan Atanassov, designated proxy for Mr. Georgi Chuklev, representing the Lighthouse Golf Club Association: competitiveness of Bulgarian tourism in terms of external logistics, internal logistics and accessibility, plus the infrastructure to access the tourist sites.

Mrs. Karastoyanova moved that two forums be organised, covering the proposed topics, to be held between mid-September and early November 2017.