“The best road to Bulgaria's economic development is tourism. But everything related to boosting this business should be done with knowledge, consistency, and long-term planning. And last but not least - with love”, believes Daniela Dimitrova, founder and manager of Our Beautiful Bulgaria Association. It was set up in 2008 with the aim of bringing together experts in various fields. "Our Bulgaria is beautiful, but we constantly have to work in two main directions - to preserve the treasures which this country possesses and to show them with joy and pride to our guests from around the world”, Mrs. Dimitrova says.

"If we all unite - ministries, local authorities, each individual owner and employee, we can achieve a lot. Bulgaria is beautiful but we should try to reveal its riches. People may spend only two days, or even two hours here, but we can turn this into an unforgettable experience that will make tourists fall in love with our country and dream of coming back. It really does not depend on anyone else but us. During the years in which I have been running the project, we were able to attract some of the best specialists - architects, engineers and artists. We are working very closely with mayors and officials of local authorities. This year I have focused my efforts in the beautiful mountain resort of Bansko - recently I became the owner of a hotel and a restaurant that recreates the atmosphere of an old Bulgarian tavern. My idea is to offer an all-round tourist product to our guests, combining a visit to the beautiful mountain landscape, cultural and historical attractions, local cuisine and pleasant surprises. The hotel and the tavern are only a hundred meters away. We have organized a means of "transport" - a colorful horse-driven cart decorated with home-woven rugs and pillows... And the tavern awaits them with delicious food and live music."

The first artists invited to start the project in Bansko were the musicians from the famous band Underground. Now one can hear there the original local folklore in the rendition of the “Banskite starcheta" (Bansko old men band), the Bansko Grannies female group and others.

“We supply the food from local farms, everything is produced locally - goat cheese, meat, vegetables. We want to encourage small and medium businesses. This is another of our tasks", continues Ms. Dimitrova. She is the initiator and organizer of several significant events that so far are only indirectly associated with tourism - a folklore festival in the eco-reserve, a comic theatre forum and more. Also, a series of musical events are planned that will enrich Bansko's cultural calendar.

"We have very good contacts with Russia, with our industrial centre in Russia, the Bulgarian embassy and with many people who share our ideas. With their assistance in October we have invited a Russian group which is very popular in Russia now - "Mystic Rose". The musicians have many fans traveling with them. We will try to show them the interesting sites in Bansko's vicinity. One of the major activities that we have undertaken is the restoration of Bulgarian sanctuaries. The easiest thing to do is to take tourists to only the most visited places like the Rila Monastery and other famous holy places. But we have set ourselves the task to discover and restore unknown Bulgarian cultural monuments and to show that Our Beautiful Bulgaria project really meets its goal. We have an annual program in which, together with the church trustees, mayors and others we locate ancient churches and monasteries and allocate draft budgets. We work very well with Bulgarian institutions. Our project is supported by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism. And this is extremely important as it helps our ideas turn into reality."

English: Rossitsa Petcova

Photos: Albena Bezovska