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Europe aims to re-wild its natural spaces
NTG eco tourism coordinator Mihaela Kircheva was the only Bulgarian and European delegate at the International aboriginal tourism conference which took place in Whistler, BC, Canada in April 2014. 
NTG presentation attracted quite an attention from the 300 delegates which were amazed by our efforts to connect people and nature in a sustainable way through finding new economic engines for the Eastern Rhodope area. The presentation included description of what features Bulgaria on a global scale - its location on the world geografical and economic map. Then the New Thracian Gold initiative in the Eastern Rhodopes was presented, as well as our vision for the future – the Rewilding Europe project. The audience was completely astonished by the RE trailer which was followed by big applause.
The conference was organized by the Aboriginal tourism association of BC (AtBC) which is recognized as a world leader in terms of training, product development, and marketing. The success of AtBC continues to increase throughout the world and this conference with representatives from 5 continents and 9 different countries is an example of their growing international reputation.
World Indigenous Torism Allience (WINTA) and Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) assisted the AtBC in finding the best examples for effective regional partnerships from all around the world. NTG was recommended to ATTA by the Bulgarian association of alternative tourism (BAAT) in which tourism coordinator Mihaela Kircheva is a member of the board. 
One of the main purposes of this conference was to discover innovative tools and strategies on the horizon for the indigenous and sustainable tourism. And this is exactly what NTG provided – innovative approach to preserve the nature but also to involve the local communities through stimulate them to develop small businesses and thus to create new economic tools for the sustainable development of the ER mountains.
“We learned about Europe’s efforts to re-wild its natural spaces from our Bulgarian delegate, the success of South Africa’s green chefs program, how Aboriginal tourism is growing in Western Australia and that initiatives are underway to build Australia’s tourism workforce” - this was written in the press release of the AtBC after the conference end.
