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INFORMATION ABOUT THE ACTIVITY OF THE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON TOURISM ISSUES IN 2007, 2008 and 2009

By Order No RD 09-01-32/20.01.2009 by the Mayor of Sofia, under Article 44, Para 2 of LSGLAA, pursuant to Article 10, Para 3, item 2 in relation with Article 10, Para 4 of the Law on Tourism, according to the order of the Mayor of Sofia City Municipality, the Advisory Council on Tourism was established, composed of 20 members, with Chairman Mrs. Yordanka Fandakova, Vice-mayor of Sofia City Municipality, and Secretary Mr. Stoyan Lazarov, Director of Tourist Service Municipal Enterprise.

Since its establishment in 2006 until the end of 2007, the Advisory Council held a total of 24 meetings, of which 15 meetings in 2006 and 9 meetings (seven regular and two working) in 2007. A total of 130 decisions were made, of which 85 decisions in 2006 and 45 decisions in 2007. A total of 95 decisions were implemented, of which 59 in 2006 and 36 in 2007. Not implemented, due either to objective or subjective reasons, were a total of 32 decisions, of which 26 in 2006 and 6 in 2007. In 2008 the Council worked on 3 decisions from 2007.

The most significant decision that the administration of Sofia City Municipality was unable to implement until now has been the establishment and opening of the Tourist Information Center – Sofia. The second outstanding issues decision is related to the differentiated rate of the tourist fee amount, and the third decision concerns the distribution of allocated funds collected from the tourist fees. The remaining outstanding decisions relate to specific events and dates for which performance is irrelevant. There are outstanding decisions due to objective reasons: the launching of a Retro-tram, bus tour of Sofia, the installation of information boards and others.

The management of Sofia City Municipality stays on the opinion is that the Advisory Council, being an advisory body to the mayor on the problems of tourism, has worked very well for the period and has achieved significant results.

In 2006, with the cooperation of the industry and of Park Hotel Moskva, the resumption of Cycling Tour of Sofia became possible. The Christmas cocktail of the Mayor, organized for the Diplomatic Corps established itself as a good tradition. Fruitful collaboration was set up for the presentation of Sofia as a tourist destination.

Thanks to the good contacts and on the basis of the Cooperation Agreement with the State Agency of Tourism, successfully implemented was the presentation of the Destination – Sofia on the international tourist markets.

Although modest for the past period, the results are very encouraging for the future successful public-private partnership and active cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and the State Agency of Tourism.

Outlined were the key priorities of Sofia City Municipality for the next four years:

Through the Tourist Service Municipal Enterprise to strengthen controls on the tourist establishments in the territory of Sofia City Municipality as to improve the quality of the tourist product and significantly increase the collection of the tourist fee due.
Introduction of a Methodology for a Differentiated Rate in Determining the Amount of the Tourist Fee Due, depending on location, built-up infrastructure, category, etc. In this respect, we conduct consultations with several European capitals: Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, London and others.
Updating the Strategy for the Development of Tourism in Sofia with all its components and segments of the tourist product. Envisaged is a public survey through questionnaires and surveys of the industry, city-marketing about the segments of the tourist product, the characterization of the tourist resources in order to determine the tourist vision of the city. Maintaining contacts with foreign partners and actively studying their experience and results. This is a very large and significant task to the capital city, for the implementation of which we will heavily rely on external experts from the tourism industry in Sofia, specialists from the SAT and specialized secondary schools and universities.
Successful presentation of Sofia in national and international tourism fairs.

The implementation of these priorities very much depends on the format and type of the tourist product offered in Sofia.

The intention of Sofia City Municipality, however, remains to open a bus tour of Sofia, received several proposals have already been received. Under discussion is the route, the form of contractual relations and other technical details.

Together with organizations in the industry, the international exchange of specialists and consultants is intensified, so as to adequately prepare specific projects for funding from the EU structural funds.

The implementation of the above tasks poses new requirements posed for qualitative and quantitative improvement of the effectiveness of the administrative staff involved in tourism in Sofia. Increased were the criteria for selection of specialized personnel and a modern material and technical working environment was created. A new software product to support the Unified Tourist Information System is being adopted.

The main priority for 2009 remained the construction of Tourist Information Centre in Sofia. Transitional for 2009 remained the following decisions:

The Advisory Council on Tourism proposed to the mayor of Sofia City Municipality to determine the site and commission the design for construction of TIC – Sofia.
The Advisory Council on Tourism proposed to the mayor of Sofia City Municipality to allocate Leva 450 000 in the 2010 budget for the construction of TIC – Sofia.
The Advisory Council on Tourism proposed to the mayor of Sofia City Municipality to organize periodic and thematic discussions, involving the Chief Architect of Sofia, on the possibilities and prospects for tourism development in Sofia and turning the city into an attractive tourist destination.
The Advisory Council on Tourism proposed to the mayor of Sofia City Municipality to continue the discussion on The Tourist Infrastructure of Sofia and Visualization of the Cultural and Historical Heritage.

In 2009, the Advisory Council on Tourism did not convene.