For years now, tourism in Bulgaria has been on an odyssey. First it was regulated by a commission, then it was under the aegis of the Economy Ministry and, after a short stint with the Culture Ministry, it returned to the Economy Ministry as an agency, before being upgraded to a state agency reporting to the Prime Minister. The same chaos reigns in the Tourism Act, which has been amended 15 times in the past six years, while the previous law was patched up more than 30 times.

At the end of its term, the tripartite coalition Government decided it was time for a 16th amendment. The bill, already debated and due to be voted on November 13, includes among other provisions, changes to how tourism organisations are registered, how tourist information centres operate and when hotels are stripped of their stars. The amendments threaten to cause even greater chaos, mainly because most of the envisioned provisions are taken out of the context of a bigger idea, such as for tour operators to be divided into three different categories. Others start from flawed premises and will not work, such as for apartment hotels to be rented out only with the approval of all owners.

"If you ask me, there should be no rush, but an entirely new law," hotel owner and chairperson of the union of investors in tourism Vetko Arabadjiev said. Stefan Sharlopov of the Bulgarian spa association and Irina Naidenova of the Bulgarian tour operators and tourism agents association share the same opinion.

The law is already obsolete for the current state of affairs in the tourism industry, according to Roumen Draganov, who participated in the drafting of the previous two tourism laws. The idea of the current law was to create regional organisations and a national umbrella organisation representing the tourism industry; to have a free flow and access to information for all tourist sites and attractions of any kind; and to define the operating criteria for tour operators and hotel owners.

"Almost none of this was actually done and each subsequent change makes the regulations even more distorted and contradictory. At times, the law was outright corrupt, allowing for the Hilton to be designated as a three-star hotel, while all the apartment hotels on the Black Sea had four and five stars," Draganov said.

Arranged marriage
What really infuriated people in the tourism business was the amendment filed by MP Plamen Mollov of the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP), who suggested the creation by statute of a chamber for tourism, which would act as the Cabinet's main partner in the industry, taking over some of the state's regulatory duties, such as categorising hotels and licensing tour operators. In practice, this is an enforced merger of various industry associations after previous attempts at unification over the past three years have failed miserably.

More disturbing is the fact that this idea had not been previously discussed with the tourism industry itself, which was surprised by this development. Bulgaria is a democratic country, the head of the Bulgarian association of tourism agencies, Donka Sokolova said, adding that the organisation she chaired was strongly opposed to a forced union. Arabadjiev, as well as Petya Slavova of the union of Bulgarian tourism industry, have both said that while not rejecting the idea of a chamber for tourism, they wanted the issue discussed first by the industry.

The enforced creation of such an entity by law would fundamentally change the relationship between the Government and the tourism industry, with the State Agency for Tourism relinquishing two of its main functions - awarding stars to hotels, which in 2007 brought the Budget about two million leva, and registering tourist companies.

It is unclear whether the industry is ready to assume more responsibility and begin self-regulating, as is the practice in most European countries. The rules have to be clear and coherent as to who will be part of the new chamber and under which criteria it would operate, ensuring that personal preferences do not interfere. These are revolutionary changes and cannot be done properly in between the first and second readings of the bill of amendments, especially since the industry does not need legislative patches but a brand-new law altogether.

It makes more sense for the issue to be left for the next cabinet to decide where tourism stands among its priorities and whether the state has to support and regulate the industry, or whether the industry is ready to fend for itself. Only that way could the confusing tango, in which one step forward is followed by two steps backward, come to an end.

Kapital Weekly, issue 45