The UN Tourism official visit, led by Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, was welcomed by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov for an official visit that included high-level meetings with the Ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs. Meetings focused on how UN Tourism can support the further growth and diversification of Bulgaria’s tourism sector, most notably through the development of cultural, culinary and wine tourism. In an official meeting with President Rumen Radev, both parties focused on supporting tourism education and growing investment into the sector, with UN Tourism committed to publishing guidelines for international investors.

Secretary-General Pololikashvili commended Bulgaria for its commitment to responsible and inclusive growth. He said:

The Republic of Bulgaria has established itself as one of Europe’s most exciting tourism destinations. With UN Tourism, its focus on education and training and growing investments into the sector will serve as the solid foundations for long-term sustainable growth, both in urban centres as well as rural communities.

Ballon d’Or winner Stoichkov joins UN Tourism

In Sofia, UN Tourism officially appointed Bulgarian sports legend Hristo Stoichkov its newest Special Ambassador for Sports Tourism. Over the course of his career, he represented Barcelona Football Club, won the Golden Boot at the 1994 World Cup and played in Italy, Saudi Arabia and the USA. Since retiring from the game, he has worked tirelessly as a philanthropist and a supporter of youth empowerment through sport.

As a Special Ambassador, Stoichkov will help further advance UN Tourism’s work on growing sports tourism as a driver of inclusive opportunity and economic diversification. He will also bring his influence and insights into UN Tourism’s work to promote tourism education in schools everywhere and make the sector a key pillar of opportunity for global youth.

Wine tourism and education central to growth

Also in Sofia, the UN Tourism leadership met with Miroslav Borshosh, Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria, to sign a Letter of Intent for future cooperation. With Bulgaria having entered into the Schengen Zone at the start of 2025, with an expected upturn in arrivals, the two parties will work to grow and direct investments into Bulgaria’s tourism sector, a key priority for UN Tourism and its Member States both in Europe and globally. The discussions explored the potential for an Investment Forum to be held in Bulgaria, recognizing its status as a regional leader.

The enhanced collaboration will also focus on another key priority for the sector, promoting education and continued training in the sector. At the same time, the growing importance of spa tourism was discussed, recognizing the natural resources of the country. Finally, with a focus on supporting the diversification and rural development, the two parties agreed that the 9th edition of the UN Tourism Global Wine Tourism Conference will be held in the city of Plovdiv, with the date to be confirmed.

UN Tourism and Bulgaria: Strengthened partnership

Meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Minister Georg Georgiev, similarly explored avenues for strengthening cooperation and enhancing tourism as a pillar of growth for the country and a tool for regional cooperation and peace.

In recognition of his work to support Bulgaria, Secretary-General Pololikashvili was awarded by the Head of State with the Order of SS Cyril and Methodius, first class.

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members’ competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism’s 500 plus Affiliate members.

UN Tourism Communications Department
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