THE Cabinet appointed Mario Al-Djebouri to the post of chairman of the State Agency on Tourism on February 9.
A graduate of UK universities, Al-Djebouri, (32), was advisor to former economy minister Nikolai Vassilev in Simeon Saxe-Coburg’s government in 2002-2004 and adviser to the Saxe-Coburg political team in 2004-2005, where he co-ordinated the activities of Bulgaria’s participation in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq.
Al-Djebouri is a member of the board of directors of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum and founder of Forem Consulting Bulgaria. His previous appointments include the British-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce in London, Arthur Andersen and Lazard.
By an order from Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, deputy culture minister in charge of tourism Dimiter Hadjinikolov was relieved of his duties.
Local media commented on the news, saying that the drama of the local tourism sector, which had finally been entrusted to Al-Djebouri, was just another “game” within the ruling three-party coalition. It is no secret that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and its partners, the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), have been fighting for the allocation of appointments in state agencies.
Al-Djebouri’s designation of tourism chief is considered to be a victory for the NMSII, whose obvious candidate he has been. Political analysts comment that the move has been a serious setback for the MRF as Hadjinikolov, the undisputed top tourism figure of the past five years, was a part of the MRF “quota”.
The appointment of Al-Djebouri itself has been met with some serious pessimism within the tourism sector, where it is viewed as another useless, yet inevitable step that would not make business life any easier.
A poll conducted by Gallup International, published on February 13, shows that the new head of the State Agency on Tourism enjoys just 1.8 per cent popularity among the people involved in the tourism sector. Hoteliers and restaurant owners, travel agencies and tour operators had been asked who should become the chief of the agency.
The agency is a component of the Ministry of Culture, but its function is not quite clear - some say even unnecessary. Its creation was envisaged in the 2005 Parliament-approved amendments to the Act on Tourism.
Gallup’s poll has also shown that there is no clearly-pronounced leader in the sector. None of the preliminary candidates for the agency’s top position managed to gather even half of the votes. The most popular among them (with 25.7 per cent) was Roumen Draganov, who heads the Sofia Council on Tourism. Second was Alex Oreshkov, executive director of the Princess Hotel with 22 per cent. The third place was for the chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of Tourist Agencies, Donka Sokolova, with 11 per cent.
Even the dismissed deputy culture minister Hadjinikolov with 7.3 per cent enjoyed better approval than Al-Djebouri.
In a comment on the poll results, the National Hotel Management Club said the research had shown that the tourism sector should be managed by an expert who knows its weaknesses and could offer adequate solutions.
