On November 15 and 16 Bulgaria hosted the Second International Congress on World Civilizations and Historic Routes. The forum organized by the World Tourism Organization gathered in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia over 500 participants from all continents. The promotion and preservation of the cultural and historical heritage was the main subject of debate. Representatives of different countries shared their experience on how they managed to improve their image and become attractive destinations for investments and tourism. Bulgaria’s Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova said that one of the most important priorities of the ministry is to turn Bulgaria into a year-round tourist destination and the authorities have been working actively in that direction. She made the following proposal to the Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Jaime Alberto Cabal Sanclemente:

We came up with the idea to create a global route of ancient civilizations. I hope that the World Tourism Organization will support this idea, so we can invite countries from all continents, in order to learn and create routes linked with the cultural heritage. If UNESCO joins this idea, we can include the Bulgarian sites which are part of the UNESCO list as well. We are to discuss this topic with experts from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, as well as with Professors and scientists who work in this field.

In Minister Angelkova’s view, Bulgaria’s cultural and historical heritage can boost the development of the regions, open new jobs and make some of the people who left Bulgaria return to their home country and those who migrated inside the country to return to their home places. Minister Angelkova was supported by the Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Culture and Media Vezhdi Rashidov who stressed on the importance of disclosure and conservation of the cultural heritage, which advertises each country’s tourism.

Over 40,000 historical monuments and sites were registered in Bulgaria. They turned this country into one of the most attractive and intriguing tourist destinations for the fans of cultural and historical tourism. The Ministry of Tourism launched and promoted several useful internet platforms which aim at promoting cultural and historical tourism such as the map of 100 UNESCO sites in Europe and I love Bulgaria mobile application which presents in Bulgarian and English some of the Bulgarian landmarks divided into regions. However, these sites need maintenance which sometimes is not effective enough due to problems related to their property.  Some of the architectural monuments already decayed, others still keep the memory of their eminent owners. Before we start thinking that this is due to the lack of adequate policy for preservation of the Bulgarian architectural heritage it is important to note that the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture has launched a programme which finances the conservation and restoration of the immovable cultural heritage, but it looks like the programme has not gained enough popularity among the owners of such properties.

A tourist exhibition was also held within the frameworks of the Second International Congress on World Civilizations and Historic Routes. 15 Bulgarian municipalities presented traditional crafts at this exhibition. The foreigners admire our products. They wonder how we manage to make them without the use of computers and modern technologies. We make everything with our own hands, artistic vision and good knowledge of our traditions, wood-carver Angel Mitrofanov told Radio Bulgaria. Angel Mitrofanov added that Bulgaria must lead a purposeful policy aimed at preserving the traditional crafts and handing them down to the future generations, because the labor of the craftsmen has depreciated due to the expansion of cheap imported counterfeit products.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov