site.btaSeminars Are Needed for Development of Journalistic Capacity in Tourism, Says Bulgarian National Television Board Member Andonov

There is a need to organise seminars, forums and trainings for journalists , Anton Andonov, member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), said at the BG Tourism - Summer 2025 forum at the Grand Hotel Pomorie on Sunday.

He noted this necessity in the context of the media presentation of the tourism product in the country and the different interpretations of events that could damage Bulgaria's image.

Andonov reasoned that the different topics have their own specificities and attending seminars would increase the capacity of journalists and limit “strange interpretations”.

He also commented on the topic discussed at the forum about the mention of trademarks in the media. “If a hotel has done something nice and it is not covered and the hotel concerned is not mentioned, then that is a problem,” he gave an example. "However, how do we look at a case where an incident happens in a hotel. Then its owners will not be happy to have the hotel's name mentioned in a journalistic piece."

In his words, national television and public media have a journalistic responsibility and try to respect their public mission. He was adamant that the media had good cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism.

Anton Andonov pointed out that the Bulgarian National Television has programmes dedicated to tourism. One of them is dedicated specifically to the history and development of Black Sea tourism, not only in the season.

“It is good that more often the business, journalists, the executive and the legislature sit at the same table and solve these problems,” Andonov said. According to him, consideration should be given to how the quality of the tourist service can be improved. “Despite the good interior, the wonderful scenery, all the qualities, there are still places where the words ‘no’, ‘can't’, ‘don't want to do’ are on the agenda and happen,” he said.

"We need to fine tune the tourism service that is offered. This needs to go as a parallel process with thinking on the issue of branding and training and development of journalistic capacity in tourism," Andonov said.

He stressed that the start of the tourist season in Pomorie has been extremely successful, congratulating the Ministry of Tourism and the local authorities in the person of Pomorie Mayor Ivan Aleksiev.