Иркутск 27-29.04.2015 том 1

The territorial concentration of the EthC (red points) is uneven (Fig. 1). They are mainly located in the north part of the country. Since some of the ethnographic complexes are in the vicinity of ecotrails, the complexes could become part of tourist classes with the students. Nestorova and Statev [5] pointed out that this could contribute to the increase of the education quality of the students.

SOFIA

Plovdiv

Fig. 1. Map of ethnographic complexes in Bulgaria

The following data concerning the ethnographic complexes (EthC) were collected: regular entrance fee (REF), distance to the closest airport (DCA), distance to the capital Sofia (DC), distance to Plovdiv (DP), winter operating time (OTw), summer operating time (OTs), number of one- day-visitors and tourists in 2013 (ODVT), total number of the sites in the EthC (TS), total area of the EthC (TA). In Table 2 descriptive statistics of the ethnographic complexes is presented.

Our study showed that the lowest entrance fee was 2 BGN, the highest – 6 BGN. The average fee was 3.40 BGN (1.74 EUR). The close proximity to the capital Sofia and its location in the second largest city favor Architectural and historical reserve “Old Plovdiv”. The average distance to Plovdiv is 70 km shorter than the average distance to Sofia. The shortest working operating time (7 hours) is in Vratsa, and the longest (10.5 hours) – in Bozhentsi. The shortest winter operating hours are in Etar, and the longest in Zlatograd and Damascena.

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The data analyses of Etar, Zlatograd, Bozhentsi, Vratsa and Arbanasi revealed a strong positive correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient R= +0.98, p<0.05) between ODVT and the total number of the sites in the complexes (Table 3). The higher the number of the sites within the boundaries of EthC, the higher the number of one-day (same-day) visitors and tourists. There is no correlation between the entrance fee and the summer operation time (R= -0.07) while a higher a value R= -0.46 was observed between the REF and the shorter winter operation time. A lack of correlation (R= -0.03, p<0.05) was found between the variables entrance fee and the distance to Sofia.

When analyzing the data about Etar, Zlatograd, Vratsa, Arbanassi, Lovech and Bozhentsi, several statistically significant correlations were found. There was a strong negative correlation (R= -0.74, p<0.05) between Distance to Plovdiv и Operating Time in Summer. The longer the distance between the EthC and Plovdiv, the shorter the summer working hours. Thus the correlation could be used in planning the itineraries including the EthC that start from Plovdiv.

Table 3

Correlation matrix with Pearson correlation coefficients (p<0.05)

Another variable, the total revenue regular entrance fee (TRREF) was defined as the number of ODVT multiplied by the regular entrance fee. In this case a restriction was observed: the assumption that all visitors pay the same regular entrance fee was made. Obviously, the statement doesn’t have practical value since there are different groups (students, retirees, etc.) who benefit from reduced entrance fees. A strong positive correlation (R = +0.94, p<0.05) was demonstrated between TRREF and TS.

Conclusion. The ethnographic complexes are playing a big role in the development of the cultural in Bulgaria. The analyses revealed that some statistically significant correlation between the regular entrance fee, distance to the nominated city for European cultural capital in 2019 - Plovdiv, the opening hours, and number of one-day-visitors and tourists in 2013 were identified. A strong positive correlation was demonstrated between the total revenue regular entrance fee and the number of tourist sites in the ethnographic complex.

References

1.Obreshkov I. 2012. The winter resorts in Bulgaria: a comparative study. Sborník příspěvků Mezinárodní vědecká konference: Aktuální trendy lázeňství, hotelnictví a turismu. ISBN 978-80- 7248-771-4.

2.Petkova E.S. 2015. Heritage, accommodation, restaurants and transport as motivators for cultural tourism. Eastern Academic Journal 1:1-11.

3.Илиева К. 2011. Роля на националната кухня в културния туризъм. International Scientific Conference - "Cultural Corridor Sofia-Ohrid - Cultural Tourism Without Boundaries". Гея Либрис, София, стр. 112-115.

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4.Илиева К. 2011. Роля на туристическия информационен център – Бургас, България, за промоция на регионалния туристически продукт. Списание “Хоризонти”, Универзитет “Св. Климент Охридски”, Битола, Македония, Година VII, Броj. 7, Декември 2011, стр.543-553.

5.Несторова Д. А. Статев. 2014. Мястото на туризма в обучението по физическо възпитание и спорт в УХТ – Пловдив. Научни трудове на УХТ – Пловдив, том LXI, стр. 820-824.

6.Обрешков И. Туристически информационни центрове. Пловдив, 2014. ISBN 978-954-8835- 94-7.

7.Стамов С. К. Никовска. Балнеолечебен и спа туризъм. Кота, 2015. ISBN 978-954-305-392-6,

стр. 143.

УДК 796.5

TOURISM ACTIVITIES BY PLOVDIV NUNICIPALITY Obreshkov I.O.

University of Food Technologies, Catering and Tourism Department 26 Maritza Blvd, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Summary

Plovdiv, the future European capital of culture, is one of the cities of interests for both domestic and international tourism market. In this study the tourism activities in Plovdiv municipality for 2014 with respect to the operating tourist information centers were analyzed. In addition, the tourism superstructure established in the municipality was analyzed in terms of its efficiency. Last, the visits paid to the cultural sites were evaluated.

Il. 9. Tab. 1. Refs. 8 titles.

Key words: tourism, Plovdiv, tourist information centers, tourism superstructure, efficiency.

Obreshkov Ivan Obretenov, PhD, Assoc. Professor, mail: obreshkov_ivan@yahoo.com

Introduction. Tourism is an economic branch with national importance for Bulgaria [8]. Its annual contribution constitutes about 10-14 % of GDP of the country. The economy of some municipalities [12] is strongly influenced by the tourism. Although tourism is one of the drivers of the national economy there was a slight decline in 2014 compared to the previous year. There was 8 % decrease in the number of incoming tourists to Bulgaria and approx. 14 % less incomes from tourism. Among the most popular five kinds of tourism in Bulgaria in 2014 were marine, mountain, spa, cultural, and congress tourism.

At the same time Plovdiv, the oldest living city in Europe [7], gained more and more popularity. The contemporary city offered many possibilities to experience the culture and lifestyle for the last several millennia.

The purpose of the current study is to analyze the tourism activities in Plovdiv in 2014.

Discussion.In the studied year Plovdiv has been nominated among the Bulgarian cities for European capital of culture in 2019. For the first time two international meetings of tour operators were held in one year – in May (14-18th) and in the period between Nov 26 and Dec 1. Both meetings in 2014 reached the number of guest organizations for the last three years.

In order to satisfy the increased needs of tourists in Plovdiv municipality functioned 6 tourist associations, 170 travel agencies and tour operators, 1954 registered food establishments, and 117 accommodation places. The accommodation and food-service establishments are among the strong driving forces for development of cultural tourism [2].

Tourist Information centers. There were two tourist information centers in 2013 [6]. During the last year, one of them changed slightly its location. Another one was opened at the site of the Ro-

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man Stadium. The tourist information centers increased their number in the city and that was in compliance with the increased number of tourists. All three TIC in Plovdiv were managed by municipal enterprises. In Table 1 data about the number of the visitors of the TIC are presented.

The presented data reveals an increase of 24 % of total number of TIC visitors compared to 2013. Unlike previous year, in 2014 both existing tourist information centers were visited approximately by equal number of visitors. However, TIC2 located in the Old Town was more visited by domestic tourists, while TIC1 (city center) was visited more intensively by international visitors. The observation could be explained with the location of both TIC. Compared to 2013, the international tourists demonstrated stable growth with appr. 14 %. At the same time the Bulgarian visitors, after the negative growth in 2013 (-6 %), in 2014 an increase of 54 % was observed.

Table 1

Number of Visitors in Tourist Information Centers managed by “Tourism” municipal enterprise in Plovdiv in 2014

However, it should be pointed out that in these TIC the dynamics were different. Although, the one located in the center registered increase of visits paid by residents (+16 %) compared to the previous year, there was decrease of international tourists (minus 6 %) and the total number of tourists (minus 1 %). The tourist burden was higher for the TIC in the Old Town. Unlike the first year of its founding, in 2014 the TICold town demonstrated strong growth as result of domestic (+113 %) and international (+53 %) tourism. Unfortunately, statistics about the gender of the visitors was not presented.

The free tour continued to be organized by the municipality of Plovdiv [6]. The tours were held twice a week in Bulgarian and English languages. The services of professional tour guides were used. At the same time another free tour was offered by a private organization but the tour was not guided by professional tour guides. Actually, Plovdiv is one of the municipalities that intends to launch “tourism police” that will be responsible for the control of the tourist groups in the ancient city.

The tourist World Wide Web portal www.visitplovdiv.com registered more than 36 thousand visits based on IP address.

At several spots electronic terminals provided information about the municipality as well as about the tourism possibilities. Two of them were located immediately next to the tourist information centers, and another one – at one of the bus-stations that served the transport accessibility to other settlements in Bulgaria. At the other two bus-stations such terminals were not presented. Petkova [9] studied the influence of transport service and mobility on the visits of tourism attractions and sights.

A mobile application facilitating the individual tourist was implemented. Thus, Plovdiv was the first town in Bulgaria involved in Pocket Guide-network. The route “An exciting walk through the Antique and Contemporary times” comprises some of the most popular tourist sites located in the city center and the Old Town.

Tourist Accommodation Superstucture. Fig. 1 shows the structure of accommodation establishments based on their category. There were 117 categorized establishments divided into class A (23 %) and class B (76 %) in compliance with the Tourism Act [11]. The types of accommodation establishments defined their class and the procedures for their categorization by the minister of tourism or by the local municipality. The most spread ones were three (36 %) and one (35 %) star shelter places, followed by two (21 %), four (7 %) and five (2 %) star establishments. Although the high-category (four and five stars) hotels were only 10 % of the accommodation superstructure,

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they constituted about 25 % of the total number of bed supply in the city. All accommodation places offered 4300 beds (+200 compared to 2013) and the average year occupancy was 25.8 % with a slight increase compared to the previous year (24.1 %). The occupancy varied during the year and the different months differed with their occupancy. Thus, seasonality was observed in Plovdiv.

Fig. 1 Tourist accommodation superstructure in Plovdiv

Color coding: red – one star; yellow – two stars; green – three stars; blue – four stars; lila – five stars

There was growth in the number of actual bookings in the accommodation establishments and the predominating ones were those resulted from domestic tourism (Fig. 2) while longer average length of stay and higher average revenues were demonstrated by the international tourists.

The total number of tourists registered growth of +8.3 % that was a result of increased number of tourists compared to 2013 – both from the domestic market (+8.5 %) and the incoming tourism (+8.0 %). The group of tourist nights resulting from international arrivals was about one third (36 %) of the total number of tourist nights. Bulgarian residents continue to be the basic (64 %) customer of accommodation places in the city.

The average stay in 2014 (Fig. 3) was increased by 3.8 %, reaching approx. 1.74 nights. The average stay of the international tourists was 2.13 nights (+12.9 % compared to 2013), while the one generated by the domestic tourism was about 1.52 nights (minus 2.3 % compared to 2013). One of the targets is Plovdiv to become a preferred week-end destination in close future. Of course, the long week-end required at least 2 nights stay in Plovdiv. Some of the events organized in Plovdiv lasted for several days.

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In general, about 29 % increase in the visits to museums and galleries was observed compared to the previous year. The jubilee tenth Night of galleries and museums was successful and undoubtedly contributed to the increase of the visits.

Conclusion. Although at national level the country experienced a light decline, Plovdiv reached growth in terms of tourism. Another tourist information center was founded. Various indicators – including the revenues, occupancy and the number of tourists and visitors – were improved compared to the previous year.

Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank the team of the “Tourism” Municipal enterprise in Plovdiv and especially Mrs. Videlina Gandeva for the support.

References

7.Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/middleeast/11105676/The- worlds-20-oldest-cities.html?frame=3043208 (accessed Apr. 05, 2015).

8.Obreshkov, I. 2012. The winter resorts in Bulgaria: a comparative study. Sborník příspěvků Mezinárodní vědecká konference: Aktuální trendy lázeňství, hotelnictví a turismu. ISBN 978-80- 7248-771-4.

9.Petkova E. Analysis of the Transport Services and Mobility to Tourism Attractions and Sights in the Region of Vidin, Bulgaria. Scientific Research of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria - Plovdiv, series. C. Natural Sciences and Humanities, Vol. XVI, ISSN 1311-9192, Union of Scientists, International Conference of Young Scientists, 13-15 June 2013, Plovdiv, p.422-426

10.Petkova E.S. 2015. Heritage, accommodation, restaurants and transport as motivators for cultural tourism. Eastern Academic Journal 1:1-11.

11.Закон за туризма (обн., ДВ, бр. 30 от 26.03.2013 г., в сила от 26.03.2013 г., изм., бр. 68 от

2.08.2013 г., в сила от 2.08.2013 г., доп., бр. 109 от 20.12.2013 г., изм., бр. 40 от 13.05.2014 г.).

12.Илиева К. 2011. Роля на туристическия информационен център – Бургас, България, за промоция на регионалния туристически продукт. Списание “Хоризонти”, Универзитет “Св. Климент Охридски”, Битола, Македония, Година VII, Броj. 7, Декември 2011,

стр.543-553.

13.Обрешков И., Налбантов Ж., Иванова С. 2011. Съединението на България – възможности за екскурзионен маршрут в град Пловдив. Научни трудове на Съюза на учените Пловдив. Серия В. Техника и технологии, том VIII. Пловдив. ISSN 1311-9192, стр. 144÷146.

14.Обрешков И. Туристически информационни центрове. Пловдив, 2014. ISBN 978-954- 8835-94-7.

УДК 796.5

SUNNY BEACH - THE RESORT OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE Vylkova G.S.

University of Food Technologies, Catering and Tourism Department 26 Maritza Blvd, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Summary. One of the Bulgarian resorts Sunny Beach is approached as a resort of national importance.

Il. 2. Tab. 1. Refs. 5 titles.

Key words: Sunny Beach, resorts of national importance.

Vylkova Gergana Stefanova, student in 4th year, mail: gerganavylkova@abv.bg

Introduction. Bulgaria is famous for its unique climate offering possibilities for mountain and nautical tourism [0]. Since 2005 the resorts of national importance are determined. These are: Albena,

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Borovets, Duni, Elenite, Golden Sands, Pamporovo, International Youth Centre Primorsko, St. Konstantin and Elena, Sunny Beach [0].

The purpose of the current study is to approach the Sunny Beach as resort of national importance.

Discussion. Sunny Beach is located in the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, in a picturesque bay with a form of half-moon, opened to the east. Located in the municipality of Nessebar, Burgas. The northern part of the resort touches the most - eastern parts of the Balkan Mountains and the southern border with Nessebar. It is 35 km away from Bourgas and 30 km from Bourgas Airport.

The landscape of Sunny Beach differs from that of other sea resorts, it is flat. The sea bed is sandy with a gradual slope. The beach with length of approx. 5500 m and an average width of 40-50 m is covered with fine yellow-golden sand. In the western part there are natural sand dune formations representing national reserve with a total area of 86 hectares.

The average monthly air temperature in the high season does not exceed 25-26 degrees Celsius, and the average monthly humidity varies around 60-65 %. The average annual duration of sunshine is about 2,300 hours. In July and August day length reaches 10.5-11 hours. The duration of the tourist season is over 6 months per year.

Sunny Beach is one of eleven Bulgarian beaches awarded the “Blue Flag” [0] for clean beaches and marinas. In Middle Ages the territory of the resort, there were two wells and the local people survived by selling drinking water to the inhabitants of Nessebar.

The idea of resort with name Sunny Beach came in the 50s of last century. The working team, headed by architect Nikola Nikolov, developed projects for hotels and restaurants. The decree, allowing the start of the resort construction was given by the Council of Ministers on June 30, 1958 [0]. The original plan was to build a small resort with 1,500 beds. Architectural solutions, however, were spectacular for its time and gradually increased the number of beds, while in the 80s reached 28,000 units. Simultaneously with the construction of Sunny Beach, the park building started. To make the park real, were transported 550 thousand cubic meters of fertile soil, ornamental shrubs, roses, dune grasses and planted thousands of trees, shrubs and flowers. Investment exceeded 150 million leva.

The construction had several stages. In the middle of 80s it was accepted that the capacity of Sunny Beach resort, i.e. the number of beds wеre calculated as a function of the beach. It was allowed the complex to accommodate 30,000 tourists, i.e. 8 sq m beach for a single tourist.

Each hotel or a separate group of hotels were designed, that the hotel facilities to be surrounded by greenery and with the maximum possible sea views.

In the period 1 September 1958 to July 1959 put into operation the first 30 hotels and 4 chalets with 2655 beds, 5 restaurants. For the period 18,099 tourists visited the complex. The name of the first built hotel was “Kalina”, where the first tourist – resident of Czechoslovakia [0].

On the territory of Sunny Beach today there are more than 200 hotels with three, four and five stars. Hotels offer many opportunities for active recreation - indoor and outdoor pools, parks and gardens, sports facilities, gyms, restaurants, day and night bars, beauty salons, spas and others. Commercial property in the complex are more than 15,000, including restaurants, shops, stalls, etc.

Тhe territory of resort includes conventional vehicles as taxis and buses as well as cleaner transport - bicycles, rickshaws, mini-trains, etc.

For lovers of sport Sunny Beach offers tennis courts, mini golf, basketball and volleyball courts, bicycles, rowing and sailing boats, scooters, water wheel , water skis, parasailing, horse riding.

Many events are organized for the tourists including visit to Bulgarian villages and monasteries, participation in rally safari.

About 36% of accommodations in the country are located in the South region ranking the first place. The largest number is in Burgas - 86% of all accommodation facilities in the area.

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