Presentation of NTG Guidebook to the Eastern Rhodopes

Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Ivo Marinov and Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands Riny Bus were the first to receive a copy of the first ever guidebook to the Eastern Rhodopes, published by the New Thracian Gold. This happened at a special press conference on the first day of the international tourism fair HOLIDAY & SPA EXPO in Sofia, where the project participated for third time.

The NTG project matches our policy of presenting Bulgaria as a year-round tourist destination, Deputy Minister Marinov pointed out. He declared his Ministry's full support for  the project and invited the NTG team to present the project at three events this year: the Green Days festival in Sofia at the end of April, the Destinations Nature Exhibition in Paris and the World Congress on Ecotourism in Switzerland in the summer.

“I hope that the tourist guidebook will bring a lot of visitors to the Eastern Rhodopes”, Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands Riny Bus said. “Bulgaria is not only a country of sun and snow, but it also has beautiful nature, rich culture and history”, she added.

The author of the guidebook, Georgi Palahutev, presented its content. The guidebook has three parts: the first one is about the Eastern Rhodopes; in the second one people will find practical tourist information. The third part is the main one – the one with the tourist regions. Georgi has divided the Eastern Rhodopes into 9 tourist regions. In every one he has described popular but also still unknown tourist sites, tours for active holiday, protected territories (biodiversity), selected hotels, guesthouses and restaurants, information centers and local travel companies. Every region also has a map, which shows where the tourist sites are situated.

The guidebook comes halfway the project period of New Thracian Gold. “Before the project is completed in 2014, the NTG-team’s ambition is to upgrade the Eastern Rhodopes to become a pilot site in the Rewilding Europe project, a European initiative aiming to make Europe a wilder place, with much more space for wildlife, wilderness and natural processes”, Johan Bekhuis, coordinator on ecotourism and communication said. Jointly with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, New Thracian Gold has nominated the Eastern Rhodopes to be one of 10 Rewilding Europe sites. The nomination is now being reviewed and a positive outcome would mean a greater reputation among European nature lovers of this little-known corner of Bulgaria.

Mihaela Kircheva, coordinator on ecotourism, explained about the tourism plans of the NTG-project in 2012.

Some interesting events were announced: a Kukeri [mummers] Ritual on 25 Februari in Ivaylovgrad, the official opening of the B&B extension of the Vassilev family on 26 April in the village of Gorno Pole, Tarpan Days (27-29 April) in the area of Sbor village, Krumovgrad Municipality, and a Bred Festival at the end of July in the village of Rabovo.

The Guidebook to the Eastern Rhodopes is available in Helicon bookshops chain.

See publications on the guidebook in For the nature website, the website of the Dutch Embassy to Sofia, Facebook of the Dutch Embassy,  Standart daily, Daily News (BTA, Bulgarian News Agency bulletin)