The six million leva annual budget of the State Agency on Tourism is insufficient, agency chairman Mario Al-Djebouri said.

Al-Djebouri will meet Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski to discuss the issue, Focus news agency reported.

Popularising Bulgaria abroad, improving the quality of tourism services, co-operating with businesses and attracting investment for the tourism sector will be the agency priorities, Al-Djebouri said.

Bulgaria needs to advertise all tourism possibilities, not only summer resorts. Some of the options that need to gain popularity include cultural, winter and alternative tourism, said Al-Djebouri.

So far the tourism agency has not analysed the effectiveness of tourism advertising abroad.

The state does not put enough effort into popularising tourism, Al-Djebouri said. He said in Turkey for example, the tourism budget totaled $103 million in 2005, representing almost 13 per cent of the GDP.