The EU Regional Development programme will finance Bulgaria's tourism sector after the country's accession.

According to the agreement, 14 per cent of all Regional Development Ministry funds will be allocated to the tourism sector, Capital newspaper reported. State Tourism Agency (STA) chair Mario al-Djebouri said that the sum reached 250 million euro.

At present, 75 per cent of the tourism funds are given for infrastructure development and another 25 per cent are spent on marketing. Other ministry objectives include promotion of training programmes and improvement of the product quality.

Al-Djebouri said that he was in no position to negotiate larger subsidies for the tourism sector as he was not a minister. He had frequently pointed out the necessity of setting up a tourism ministry. Without it, lobbying Bulgaria's interests or properly managing the EU funds would be impossible.

Although the sector is 98 per cent private, its revenues amount to 13 per cent of the GDP. After the closure of the Kozlodui Nuclear Power Plant, the tourism sector would become the second in importance after energetics, al-Djebouri said.

The agency is working on further improving the co-operation between state and private tourism organisations. Common projects include the opening of tourism offices abroad. Al-Jebouri said that the industry needed 19 million leva for adequate advertising abroad. Since STA has only 6.2 million leva at its disposal, co-operation with the private sector for the establishment of a marketing fund is necessary, Capital wrote.