Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism announces uniform anti-Covid-19 measures for winter tourist season

By order of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Mariana Nikolova, uniform rules for anti-epidemic and sanitary measures in the resorts are introduced for the upcoming winter season 2020/2021.

The aim is for all tourist destinations to introduce the same practices to ensure the health and safety of tourists, and for Bulgaria to protect its status as a healthy and safe destination.

The Ministry of Tourism has developed a package of measures for the winter season 2020/2021, which should be complied with by all establishments, companies, organizations and individuals offering tourist services.

It is time for health diplomacy, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Mariana Nikolova at a working meeting with managers of winter resorts, mayors and regional governors on October 21. The Chief State Health Inspector Assoc. Prof. Dr. Angel Kunchev also took part in the discussion. The package is coordinated with the Ministry of Health and is published on the website of the Ministry of Tourism.

If necessary, the measures will be changed or supplemented depending on the epidemic situation, the Deputy Prime Minister said and called on everyone in the sector to be flexible and proactive.

On the ski lifts – wearing a face mask is mandatory

The measures cover the activities of gondola lifts, chair lifts and ski lifts. Tourists must cover their nose and mouth with a mask or other protective equipment when staying in the cabin and lift stations.

The number of passengers in the closed lift facilities may be limited at the discretion of the operator. The cabins will be disinfected on a regular basis.

Up to 10 people in ski schools

A special organization for physical distance and disinfection has also been introduced in the ski lockers, and in the ski schools the groups are required to include no more than 10 people.

Restaurants in the ski areas will even more strictly follow the adopted guidelines for their operation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The control authorities will be completely uncompromising in detecting violations of the rules. In this way we will protect the Green Seal, which Bulgaria received from the World Tourism Council as a safe and secure destination. Bulgarian resorts have already gained experience in providing safe conditions for their guests during the summer season and should continue this practice. Thanks to our uniform measures in the Bulgarian summer resorts, there was not a single confirmed case of coronavirus in the accommodation places. Our aim is to build upon this positive trend for winter destinations as well, said the Deputy Prime Minister.

As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, I will not allow a compromise that may stain any tourist destination in Bulgaria, and the entire tourism industry, said the Deputy Prime Minister and called for compliance with the three D - distance, disinfection and discipline. She added that the control over the observance of the measures will start before the official opening of the winter season.

According to Assoc.Prof. Kunchev, tourism is one of the two systems together with education, which coped well with the COVID situation.

The places for accommodations responded adequately. However, the situation is dynamic and we are largely dependent on it. Practice has shown that the measures work. There is nothing better than going to the mountains for sports, but everyone must comply with the anit-epidemic measures. Thank you for everything you do, because it's a lot. The readiness of the winter resorts will be much higher than the summer ones, he added.

The industry and local authorities welcomed and supported the unified measures of the Ministry of Tourism, expressing readiness to upgrade them. A number of mayors have proposed additional protection measures to make tourists more aware of the situation.

They also demanded a unified advertising campaign for the winter, as well as financial relief for tourists coming to Bulgaria with a PCR test. The representatives of the local government are ready to assist in the more efficient work of the medical teams that are on site in the resorts.

The representatives of the ski resorts Borovets and Pamporovo pointed out their positive experience from the summer and reported that not a single patient became ill on their territory after the strict measures were taken. We are working to reduce the gathering of too many visitors in one place. An online ticketing system with vending machines has also been developed to limit contacts.

Deputy Prime Minister Mariana Nikolova added that the ministry had responded in a timely manner to the business's request to direct anti-crisis advertising to both the domestic market and the Balkan countries. In fact, there are 20 TV clips made with tour guides from the country for Bulgarian TV channels and social media networks in the Balkan countries. A national image video for Bulgaria is about to be released, the footage of which was provided free of charge by Bulgarian ski resorts, she added.