site.btaPamporovo Resort Chief: Resort Information Is News, Not Advertising

Information from Bulgarian resorts should be treated by the media as news of public interest rather than as advertising, Pamporovo Chief Executive Officer Sofia Tsankova said at the BTA BG TOURISM – WINTER 2025/2026 forum in Pamporovo on Saturday.

Tsankova said the resort was ready for the start of the winter tourist season. The company had invested in expanding the artificial snowmaking system and, given favourable weather, the ski area could open within three to four days.

She said she expected the media to provide broader and more regular coverage of up-to-date information about the condition of the resorts, the situation in the ski areas and the weather during the season. Such information, which tourists rely on when planning their holidays, is not advertising, she pointed out.

Tsankova noted that the media could freely use and quote this practical information, which is available on the resorts’ official websites. In her view, positive news from Bulgarian resorts should not be seen as advertising or PR but as information of public interest. She added that she also expected media support for the debated changes concerning resort infrastructure.

“We must make sure that destinations are sustainable,” Tsankova said. In her opinion, this goal can be achieved only if State and municipal institutions and the media support changes that serve the development of tourism.

Executive Director of the Rhodope Tourism Region Management Organization Georgi Pamporov asked if there is involvement on the part of the Ministry of Tourism regarding the Perelik ski centre project. In reply to his question about how the ministry would continue the concept of tourism zoning in Bulgaria, Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh said that zoning created opportunities but its success depended on the activity of regional organizations. Regions must be proactive, because present-day tourism is above all the result of an active regional policy, Borshosh added.

Advertising should build image and target specific markets, Borshosh said. He recalled that domestic tourism was of key importance for Bulgarian resorts.

The forum on BG TOURISM - WINTER 2025/2026 was organized by the BTA in partnership with the Municipality of Chepelare, the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism (BUBSPA), and the resort of Pamporovo. The discussion is part of BTA's initiative to host forums twice a year – at the beginning of the summer and winter tourist seasons – to discuss the messages for the presentation of tourism in Bulgaria during the upcoming season with representatives of state and municipal institutions, the tourism business, non-governmental organizations, scientists, and experts.