The inaugural Investing in Tourism Sustainability Conference will open in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria Ma 30-31. It will focus on investment in tourism in Bulgaria and Southeast Europe.

The Tourism Sustainability Conference will serve as a Tourism Investment platform bringing together Policy Makers, Tourism Ministers, Project Owners, Investors, and the tourism and hospitality business sectors from Bulgaria, Southeast European countries and global tourism stakeholders.

The event will be hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria in partnership with ITIC and InvesTourismwhich is under the Chairmanship of Dr. Taleb Rifai the Former Secretary-General of the UNWTO

It will contribute to shaping the future of travel and tourism by opening new business opportunities through innovative moves. This event will be focused on tourism development and investment in Bulgaria and Southeast European countries while addressing the issues and challenges faced by the region.

The inaugural of this Conference in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria will attract over 400 public and private sector leaders interested in investment and development of the travel and tourism sector as a prime engine for future economic growth and as a model that can promote self-employment among the local communities in both Bulgaria and Southeast European destinations.

As pointed out by Hon. Nikolina Angelkova, Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria: “Tourism in this region of Europe is growing rapidly with over 120 million tourists in 2018 and total tourism receipts of USD 118.8 billion which accounted for around 11.7% of total GDP for the Southeast Europe countries. Bulgaria alone attracted over 9.2 million tourists and total tourism receipts was USD7.6 billion last year. Moreover, the enormous development potentials lying untapped within Southeast Europe represents a grand avenue for new investment opportunities within travel and tourism acting as prime engine of future economic growth and as a model of development that can promote self-employment among the local community in both Bulgaria and the Southeast European destinations.”

The conference will also be a forum for participants to discuss opportunities of mutual interest and initiate potential partnerships and alliances in investments in sustainable tourism developments up to projects’ fruition.

The conference has garnered high interest in the region and internationally and has attracted the participation of regional and Mediterranean Tourism Ministers namely:

1. Mr. Gari Capelli, Minister of Tourism of Croatia
2. Mrs. Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism of Greece
3. Mr. Rasim Ljajić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia
4. Mrs. Majd Shweikeh, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan
5. Mr. Kreshnik Bekteshi, Minister of Economy Republic of North Macedonia
6. Mr. Haitham Mattar, CEO Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority
7. Mrs. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism of Egypt
8. Mr. Konrad Mizzi, Minister of Tourism of Malta

This demonstrates the high level of commitment and involvement of the respective Governments and Policy Makers to develop the tourism industry as the Key engine of growth of the economy in this region.

The other main guests will feature Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas who is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Petra National Trust and a UNESCO Goodwill ambassador, Dr. Taleb Rifai, Former Secretary-General of UNWTO. The Conference will also a line-up of high-caliber speakers and delegates such as Tourism Leaders, International Hotel Brands, Tourism Project Owners (SEE) having new projects to showcase, Investors, Investment Banks, Private Equity Firms to network and making new partnerships.

The event will be moderated by Rajan Datar, an award-winning broadcaster and presenter of the BBC.

The Partners of the events are the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, ITIC, InvesTourism and Helena Resort.