site.btaUPDATED BTA Director General Valchev Proposes "Bulgaria – Pure Holiday" as the Slogan for the Summer 2025 Tourism Season

Bulgaria should present itself as a clean holiday destination under the slogan Bulgaria – Pure Holiday, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev proposed on Sunday at the BG Tourism – Summer 2025 forum in the Grand Hotel Pomorie.

The seventh edition of the event, held twice a year at the start of each summer and winter season, brings together representatives of State and municipal institutions, the tourism industry, civil society, academia and the media to define Bulgaria’s message for the coming season.

Valchev told delegates that in the past two or three years international coverage had increasingly questioned Bulgaria’s cleanliness, often citing isolated incidents such as stray ammunition, oil spills or food-poisoning cases that were then generalised. He urged the sector to refocus the narrative and prove that a pure holiday is possible in Bulgaria.

As evidence, he pointed out that 30 Bulgarian beaches and marinas have received the 2024 Blue Flag for meeting international standards of cleanliness and sustainability.

“BTA presents each of the thirty Bulgarian beaches and marinas distinguished with the Blue Flag by the programme’s international jury in Copenhagen,” Valchev said.

Valchev added that the country’s expanding water-purification infrastructure, certified bio food and healing waters strengthen the message.

“I have visited 193 countries and have never seen another hotel built literally upon therapeutic salt water and mud like the Grand Hotel Pomorie,” he said.

Valchev suggested that for a season focused on Blue Flag beaches, mineral and healing springs and local bio cuisine, the slogan Bulgaria – Blue, Balneo & Bio would also be appropriate.

Another trend, he noted, is the growing number of EU citizens who choose Bulgaria not only as tourists but as employees in the sector. Grifid Hotels, which runs eight properties in Golden Sands, now employs staff from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and France, alongside workers from India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkiye and Ukraine. French students from tourism colleges in Lille, Soissons, Le Touquet and Avesnes-sur-Helpe have turned seasonal internships into jobs as receptionists, waiters and chefs: six stayed on in 2021, 17 in 2022, eleven in 2023, eight in 2024 and 13 so far in 2025. Italians, Lithuanians, Germans and Turks already hold management posts. Valchev said this recognition of Bulgaria’s hospitality standards should not be overlooked.

He called on businesses to help the media highlight positive developments and remain accessible when problems arise.

“There are no bad questions, only bad answers or, worse still, no answer at all,” Valchev said.

Public debate, he continued, requires patience and humility.

“All of us in this conversation can make mistakes, because adults err as easily as the children whose day we mark today,” he said. “What unites us is Bulgaria and the wish to see it viewed more positively at home and abroad.”

Even unavoidable challenges can be presented with nuance, Valchev said, noting that BTA has already published summer outlooks from the Institute of Analysis and Assessment in Tourism, the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents, Union Future for Tourism, National Board of Tourism, Association of Restaurants in Bulgaria, Association of Incoming Agencies, Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents, and the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Forum background and past messages

Since its launch, every BG Tourism forum has produced a unifying seasonal slogan:

Summer 2022, Varna: Bulgaria Is Safe (addressing COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine)

Winter 2022/2023, Bansko: Bulgaria – Holiday with No Restrictions (replying to energy and service limits elsewhere in Europe)

Summer 2023, Burgas: Bulgaria – More Value, Same Price (as prices rose in rival destinations)

Winter 2023/2024, Samokov: Bulgaria – There Is Snow! / Bulgaria – Safe Destination (countering claims of snow-free resorts and war-related fears)

Summer 2024, Albena: Bulgaria – Warm, Not Hot and Bulgaria Wants You! (offering temperate weather and welcoming tourists)

Winter 2024/2025, Banya, Razlog Municipality: Bulgaria – Ski, Sun & SPA – Without Borders (promoting year-round tourism and spa, mountain and medical breaks)

The English wording Bulgaria Wants You! mirrors a long-running platform that encourages expatriate Bulgarians to return, created by Andrey Arnaudov and Ivan Hristov in partnership with BTA.

Natural assets and cross-border opportunities

The Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism promotes the country as the land of the three Ws – Wellness, Wein (Wine) and Weltkulturerbe (World Cultural Heritage). Bulgaria has more than 550 deposits of thermal and mineral waters supplying over 1 600 springs with a combined discharge of 4,900 litres per second, ranking first in continental Europe and second in Europe after Iceland for natural mineral-water reserves.

Well-established wellness destinations include Sandanski, Tryavna and Sveti Vlas, while 354 kilometres of Black Sea coastline offer 78 sandy beaches suitable for thalassotherapy. Six lakes provide healing mud and salt: Shabla, Rusalka, Balchik Tuzla, Varna, Atanasovsko and Pomorie.

Bulgaria’s first full year in the Schengen area removes border checks for EU citizens, opening joint routes with neighbouring countries. Skiers from Banya, Razlog and Bansko can reach Thessaloniki for lunch, while visitors from Greece can enjoy Bulgarian slopes or spas. From Varna, day trips to Tulcea and the Danube Delta are now easier, and travellers touring castles north of Bucharest can include city breaks in Ruse.

Outreach to the diaspora

Finally, Valchev underlined targeted messages for Bulgarians abroad, who can now reach ski, beach and spa resorts without border formalities. Schengen membership, he said, makes the homeland more accessible for short breaks and strengthens the appeal of the new slogan Bulgaria – Pure Holiday.