Development and validation of a model for monitoring and evaluating the sustainable development of tourism in Bulgaria (using national resorts as examples).

Project’s name:

Development and validation of a model for monitoring and evaluating the sustainable development of tourism in Bulgaria (using national resorts as examples).

Funding body:

Bulgarian Research Fund, under contract No. KP-06-N25/3 dated December 13, 2018.

The project is led by Prof. Dr. Teodora Georgieva and is primarily aimed at providing fundamentally new knowledge about the essential nature of sustainable tourism development. This knowledge will be used extensively for future research activities as well as for shaping management policies and approaches to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment in the country.

Project objectives:

The project aims to develop and validate a model for monitoring and evaluating the sustainable development of tourism in Bulgaria, using national resorts as examples (including both coastal resorts like Albena, Dyuni, Golden Sands, Primorsko, St. Constantine and Elena, Sunny Beach, and Elenite, and mountain resorts like Borovets and Pamporovo). The developed model is based on a system of indicators for an objective assessment of the sustainability of tourism development as a basis for identifying trends, justifying and implementing policies to optimize the effects of tourism development.

Achieving this goal will contribute to improving Bulgaria’s competitiveness as a tourist destination in the European and global tourism market and ensuring the sustainable development of national resorts as representatives and “flagships” of the tourism industry. Implementing the achieved results in practice will address a number of socio-cultural, economic, and ecological issues by forming a successful model of interaction between the structural elements of tourism systems.

The above will be realized based on the implementation of interconnected activities and tasks, within which guidelines will be outlined for:

1. A) further improvement of existing systems of indicators for sustainable tourism development at the national resort level;
2. B) achieving an optimal level of sustainable tourism development in the pilot national resorts.

Model for sustainable development of an emerging tourist destination based on the example of the municipality of Botevgrad.

For more information: http://bgresorts.online/