Bulgaria, China's Guangdong Province to Step up Tourism Ties

Officials of Bulgarian government and south China's Guangdong province's tourism administration held Friday a tourism seminar aimed at boosting relations in the field of tourism between the two countries.

Members of Guangdong Tourism Administration, officials from the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism (MEET), and major tourism enterprises attended the event where tourist presentations were shown and bilateral meetings were conducted.

Chen Zhiying, vice secretary-general of Guangdong provincial government told the seminar that the tourism industry in Guangdong is the most developed in China.

He said the revenues from tourism in Guangdong last year reached 59 billion U.S. dollars.

Vladimir Tudjarov, secretary general of the Bulgarian MEET said this was one of the first Chinese delegations coming to Bulgaria to step up tourism relations between the two countries.

He said Bulgaria is a small country, but it can offer many to its Chinese guests, such as beautiful nature, wine and spa centers.

Lu Yongming, economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Sofia, said since October 2007, when Bulgaria has been included in the list of approved destination sites, residents of Guangdong Province have begun to get an idea about the tourist resources of Bulgaria.

Lu said this visit would contribute to increasing contacts and cooperation in tourism, raising the bilateral tourist flow and the rapid and stable development of the tourism industry of the two countries.