In this critical year for the tourist industry the state budget is planning a considerable increase in funding for marketing the Bulgarian tourist product, with a record of almost 20 million Leva. But the unpredictable situation connected with the spread of Covid-19 is raising a number of issues.

Once again this year the Ministry of Tourism intends to attract the attention of foreigners with the help of traditional campaigns, relying first and foremost on image advertising with a focus on “products bringing people closer to nature, a healthy lifestyle, food and wine, traditions and authenticity.”

How adequate is the promotion of Bulgaria in the current unpredictable situation and how can this money be invested best?

According to Martin Dimitrov, founder and creative director of a leading Sofia advertising company, the budget earmarked for the purpose does not guarantee success.

“In the coming months we shall keep saying, over and over again that Bulgaria is a safe destination but that is a message many countries are going to convey, and some of these countries will probably be safer than we are,” Dimitrov says and adds:

“We are in a tough race in which we are not demonstrating any genuine originality. Especially this season, when there will be other important factors tourists will be on the lookout for. For example, the healthcare system and what happens if you fall ill – doctors, medical teams at the resort where you are staying, are they going to react promptly? And when we say we are a safe destination, it is not enough to just say it, we need to describe specifically why we are a safe destination, something I have not been hearing when we promote the country."

What Bulgaria ought to do first is determine what kind of tourism it intends to develop in this new context we are living in. Because the focus of the country’s promotion abroad follows many lines. The emphasis is again on participating in tourist exchanges, working with bloggers and media, image campaigns with flyers and videos about Bulgaria, heaping onto the viewers all of its wonders and beauty. “Look, other countries have a rich culture and traditions too that tourists are interested in,” says Martin Dimitrov and adds:

“We always try to show we have everything. We talk about traditions, about SPA, about holidays by the sea, about winter tourism. But when we do this we are restricting the consumers’ idea of the country and are not helping them discover anything different, anything that will surprise them. And that is something that is typical of our tourist advertising. Because the people that would go for Sunny Beach and for rural tourism are different, or for cycling or wine tourism. We cannot go on urging people to come to the country by “heaping” everything we want to say, targeting absolutely everyone in one image campaign or one 30-second video.”

Martin Dimitrov says it is high time the authorities started segmenting advertising and trying to target the relevant public with focused messages.

“Our advertising has no direction. We have overdeveloped many territories, we have overdone many things. But advertising is not in a capacity to solve the deep-going problems the industry has. We still don’t know what the prospects are for tourism, where to lay an emphasis. But seeing as the industry itself does not know that, advertising cannot solve its problems. That is precisely the reason why our tourist advertising campaigns offer all things to all people. And as the cliché goes – when you are talking to everyone, no one is hearing you,” Martin Dimitrov says.

Photos: Veneta Nikolova and Faceboоk / Martin Dimitrov