As in all other fields of the social life in tourism there is fashion too. Indeed many people undertake a certain trip just because it is fashionable to do so and go there for that particular time of the year. These hot-couture tendencies change every year and vary in different countries and periods. In Bulgaria, for example, for last year rural tourism was really modern, the year before last was the time of winter tourism and this year it looks difficult to assess.
At the beginning of the summer tourism period the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (a newly established state body) allotted 2.8 million levs (approximately 1.43 million euros) for the improvement of the infrastructure at prominent cultural landmarks- including the ancient religious complex of Perpericon (in the Rhodops Mountains), the Madara Horseman (carved in stone low relief near Shumen), the medieval Aladzha Monastery (cut into the rocks near Varna), the Rozhen Monastery (a medieval monastery in Pirin Mountains) and the gallery of the legendary painter Vladimir Dimitrov also called The Master, in the western town of Kyustendil. Tourism potential was the main criterion for sponsoring the sites as the Ministry would like to promote cultural tourism.
For the last four years museum and cultural tourism proved much more profitable than sea and ski holidays. The main reason is that people on a cultural tour usually need special transport and guides and thus spend 100 times more money than those simply lying on the beaches. Bulgaria is to turn into a favorite destination for tourists and will become a European leader in cheap traveling, according to specialists.
However it is always worth trying to promote alternative kinds of tourism which most of the time turn out to be really profitable. Such type of traveling is the hunting tourism as the number of tourists who visited Bulgaria for sport hunting has doubled on a year-on-year basis, according to official data presented at the International Nature, Hunting, Fishery Expo in Plovdiv (south Bulgaria) this year. Nearly 5.000 people hunted in Bulgarian forests last year, compared to 2.400 the previous one. The return from hunting tourism, standing at about 1.8 million euros, has been reinvested in the sector so that innovations are made in order to promote further the field.
Specialists hope that new types of tourism, like cultural, museum and hunting tourism will become much more fashionable this year. Thus the country will not only gather a substantial turnover but also show to the world that there is a lot more to be seen in Bulgaria besides the sea.
