Recently media statements about the activity of the Bulgarian Black Sea Alliance (BBSA) were published. As representatives of the organization, we would like to highlight that the goal of the organization has been and is to promote and market the entire Bulgarian Black Sea coast as an attractive tourist destination. The focus is to create a better awareness of the destination in our key markets, including all of its representatives in the tourist sector.

In 2 years and a half of its existence, a range of activities have been organized. Among its biggest achievements are the Bulgarian Marketing Road Shows which were organized in close cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism. By now, events of this type have been organized in 4 countries (Poland, Germany, Israel, and the United Kingdom):

• Bulgarian-Polish Tourist Forum in Warsaw (Poland) in May 2022;
• Road Trip to 4 cities in Poland in October 2022;
• Road Trip to 5 cities in Germany in February 2023;
• Actively supported the Ministry of Tourism in the organizing of a Tourism Forum in Israel in May 2023;
• Road Trip to 4 cities in the UK in December 2023.

During all of the activities, the BBSA was supported by the Ministry of Tourism and many stakeholders in the tourism sector. Participants were hoteliers and tour operators from the entire Bulgarian Black Sea coastline and more than 170 B2B meetings were held in the UK, Germany, and Poland by each participant. In addition, the local media was involved in meetings and presentations of the destination towards travel journalists, influencers, and media representatives.

Furthermore, the BBSA has organized 3 journalist fam trips in 2023 as a follow-up to the marketing road shows. Journalists visited the most attractive tourist sites along the entire Bulgarian Black Sea coast, including an introduction to most of the biggest summer resorts, such as: Albena, Golden Sands, St. St. Konstantine and Elena, Obzor, Sunny Beach, Nessebar, Pomorie, and Sozopol.

In addition, the BBSA organized regular information to optimize the preparation for the touristic summer season, supported marketing programs of the Ministry of Tourism, organized informative events for professionals in tourism, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, and cooperated with Berlin Airport, Frankfurt Airport, and Krakow Airport in promoting the Bulgarian Black Sea region.

The plans of the BBSA for 2024 include:

• Organizing new Roadshows to the most promising key markets - Germany and Poland with different cities to be visited in both countries;
• Organizing a high-impact media fam trip for journalists from the United Kingdom as a follow-up to the Roadshow;
• Organizing of trade fam trips (Poland, Gdansk region and Israel, with a 5-night trip along the Black Sea coastline including the organizing of B2B meetings).We invite all members of the tourist sector at the Bulgarian Black Sea to join our marketing activities.

Position paper of the Bulgarian Black Sea Alliance: 

Who we are: The Bulgarian Black Sea Alliance was founded in July 2021 as a legally registered non-commercial Private-Public-Partnership with the goal to significantly grow and improve tourism on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Members are Airport operators, Hoteliers, Tour operators, Airlines, Municipalities, Service providers and tourist-oriented NGOs. New members are welcome and the goal is to represent the whole value chain of tourism at the Black Sea of Bulgaria. We cooperate closely with the Ministry of Tourism and other governmental authorities.

Our goals:

1. Significant improvement and strengthening of the international marketing of Bulgaria as a touristic destination;
2. Growing as a tourist destination in current TOP source markets and developing new markets, especially North Europe, France, and Middle East countries;
3. Legislative changes to enable effective spending of the marketing funds of the Ministry of Tourism, as well as its ability to enter Public-Private Partnerships;
4. Easing the visa regime for tourists from high-potential markets, especially Middle East countries;
5. Organizing marketing events in the high-potential source markets – Poland, Germany, France, etc.;
6. Overall lobbying for and improvements of the tourist sector at the Bulgarian Black Sea including the exchange of relevant information in the sector;
7. Unify the tourist sector, including the hoteliers, tour operators, municipalities, etc.