Russia, Bulgaria sign joint program to promote tourism
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin and Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova have signed a joint program to promote tourism in 2019-2021, the press service of the Russian Economic Development Ministry said in a statement.
"The sides have formalized their intention to increase mutual tourist arrivals, to implement joint investment projects and innovations in the field of tourism, to ensure rights and security of tourists, and to promote relations between regional tourism organizations and other tourism entities of both countries," the statement said.
Russia and Bulgaria pledged to pool their efforts at international organizations to promote cooperation at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Commission for Europe and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Working Group on Cooperation in Tourism.
The documents were signed at the end of Russian-Bulgarian talks in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov.
Nine million foreign tourists, including 511,000 Russian ones, visited Bulgaria in 2018. Tourist arrivals in Bulgaria dipped almost 15% year-on-year.