Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2018 Exclusive Interview: Varna, A City of Sea Capital with Springs

Varna: the European Youth Capital 2017

Varna is the Sea capital of Bulgaria, with wonderful resorts, spa centers and mineral springs. Over the last year more than 10 low-cost airlines have opened direct lines from Varna to different locations around the world, which makes the city even more attractive and popular tourist destination. Varna is a city of youthful energy. Over 40000 students continue their higher education at the six universities and three colleges in Varna. This youth profile of the city was an important reason to be the European Youth Capital 2017 - a title that gave a new direction for development of youth entrepreneurship and creativity.

Varna is an important educational center. It also offers various entertainment opportunities. We are proud of our beautiful nature having warm mineral springs, clean sea and golden sand. A trace from the ancient history is the world's oldest processed gold found in the Chalcolithic Necropolis in Varna, which is hosted in our Archaeological Museum. Here are the biggest on the Balkan Peninsula Roman Thermae, the incredible rock Aladzha monastery, the unique Stone Forest (Pobiti Kamani) ... Tourists can easily access information about the recreational opportunities provided using different sites and mobile applications that promote the city as a tourist destination.

Diverse Service Platforms

There is a great interest in the initiative of Varna Municipality providing free tours for tourists with professional guides. Guests of the city can get information about these tours from the official tourist site: http://visit.varna.bg and from the social networks as well. During the tours in the central area of the city, tourists get acquainted with interesting facts about the history and the modern development of the city. We work in partnership with companies providing various mobile applications which aim at promoting the destination of Varna and offering a platform to tourists to share personal emotions and experiences - a direct contact with the guests of the city which is of great importance to us.

Varna‘s Bilateral Business Forums and International Activities

Varna has great potential in city tourism development. The positive effect of the fast growing market of low-cost flights to the Sea Capital of Bulgaria is evident. We cooperate with more than 25 cities from all over the world. The bilateral business forums with partner cities like Ningbo (China), Dordrecht (the Netherlands) and Rostock (Germany) are among the good examples in this respect. These events provided concrete opportunities and conditions for the development of maritime business, tourism and cultural exchange between partner cities. Student exchange agreements between the universities, cultural projects like exhibitions, concerts and expositions are among the numerous international activities that the city organizes. Varna will host the meeting of Bulgarian and Russian twin cities for the second time. Over 100 mayors from the two countries will exchange best practices in the sphere of sustainable development of tourism and culture. This year the Sea Capital of Bulgaria has been promoted at over 21 tourist exhibitions all over the world so far.

Achieve City’s Sustainable Development through Tourism

I believe that the sustainable development of the cities through tourism, which is the platform of WTCF, is the right direction that we should follow. It is important to work together for the recognition and improvement of the standards for tourist business along with tourist services quality enhancement all over the world.