site.btaBulgaria and Greece to Create New Tourist Routes in Rhodope Mountains

New tourist routes to natural landmarks in the Rhodope Mountains will be created and popularized under a Bulgarian-Greek project called Smart Marketing Strategies for Tourism in the Cross-Border Area, funded through the Interreg V-A Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020 Cross-border Cooperation Programme. The news broke at a working meeting on the project hosted by the regional administration of Smolyan, Southern Bulgaria on Wednesday.

During the meeting, hoteliers, travel guides and NGO representatives proposed natural sites in Smolyan Region for inclusion in the routes.

The development of at least five new routes is aimed to draw tourists from the flow of transit travellers. A study shows that most of the tourists who choose to visit Smolyan Region are attracted by cultural, historical and natural landmarks. About 80% of them gather information from the social media.

The future routes can appeal to Romanian tourists going to Greece or migrant workers moving south in summer.

A strategy for the development of tourism in Smolyan Region will be drawn up under the project. The lead partner in the project is the Greek Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The Bulgarian beneficiaries are the regional administrations of Haskovo, Kardzhali and Smolyan.