Tour operators and journalists from around the country descended on the tiny village of Kosti for the first Bulgarian Rhododendron Festival last week. Just a few kilometres from the Turkish border, Kosti is situated in the east of Strandja National Park, Bulgaria's latest and largest national park, which covers over 116 000 hectares and is famous for its dense oak and beech forests.

Rhododendrons grow naturally in Bulgaria, and are considered exotic as they can only be found in the Strandja region. The Rhododendron flower is the park's symbol and was thus chosen to name the festival, which occurred just as the flowers were coming into bloom. Though the expectant journalists only got the chance to see one such blooming flower, they were treated to a variety of other events organised by the park's management and intended to demonstrate the immense potential of the region for rural and eco-tourism. Funding for the park is limited and it is hoped that by boosting revenue through tourism the management of the huge park will gain much needed extra resources.

Day one of the festival took the form of a village 'sabor' or fete in the morning, with groups of traditional musicians and dancers that had been bussed in from around the area. All were dressed in a variety of regional costumes and performed on the village square for a merry crowd of locals.

The organisers had prepared three walking routes for the journalists and tour operators to experience Strandja's natural beauty first-hand, most plumped for the second walk, rated moderate rather than difficult, and tramped off into the park's dense woodland, which covers 80 000 hectares of the park.

The specific climate of the region has allowed vegetation closer to that of the Caucasus than of Europe to flourish, and 1300 - over 50 per cent - of Bulgaria's higher plant species can be found there. It is also home to 261 bird species including Golden, Lesser-spotted and White-tailed Eagles, Black Storks, and Honey Buzzards. The diverse habitats, through which the journalists wandered, consist of islands, cliffs, sandy beaches, bays, meadows and swamps as well as the ubiquitous forests.

Later that day the group of tour operators and journalists was taken to Bulgari village, famous for its annual celebration of Saint Constantine, on June 3, when Nestari dancers fast for 24 hours before going into trances and dancing on hot coals in the village square. Last year an estimated 6000 people crammed into the tiny village to witness the legendary event.

The festival's second and final day was a tour of Strandja, starting with museum visits in Malko Turnovo, the largest town in the park. In Stoilovo a village to the west, the group members were invited to ride donkeys, one of the village's tourist attractions, and they later wound up in the architectural reserve of Brashlyan, a village of wood and stone houses - some over 200 years old. In scorching temperatures, the group followed the village tour, already offered to an increasing number of German tourists, from the village church, to its museum, to an ancient house with one of the country's first indoor toilets, and finally to another house where the old women of the village, in traditional dress, sang for their visitors and demonstrated old cotton spinning techniques.

Katya Ivanova, one of the park's public relations officers, was very satisfied with the festival. "Strandja is a unique area," she said, "and we're happy that so many journalists and tour operators were interested enough to come and see what the region has to offer. We're not only promoting eco and rural tourism, but nature protection as well."

The tour operators agreed that Strandja has much potential - the 5000 Germans that visited Brashlyan last year are proof enough - though one tour operator from Bourgas thought it unlikely that tourists visiting the Black Sea could be encouraged to spend a day or two visiting local villages. "Most of them just come for the sea and sand," she said. "I think that this kind of tourism is for a very particular type of tourist."

Eco and rural tourism is a fast growing sector of Bulgaria's tourist industry and was heavily promoted during 2002's year of eco-tourism. It is supported by businesses, local municipalities, and environmental NGOs as it is often the only viable industry for some regions and generates revenue and job opportunities in areas suffering from high unemployment.