Role of tour operators for sustainable

development of Bulgarian winter resorts

Stanislav Ivanov, Ph. D.

Academic Director

International University College

3 Bulgaria Str., 9300 Dobrich, Bulgaria

Editor: European Journal of Tourism Research

e-mail: stanislav.ivanov@vumk.eu

http://ejtr.vumk.eu

Role of tour operators for sustainable

development of Bulgarian winter resorts

Tour operators and sustainable development of resorts

Overview of Bulgarian winter resorts

Role of foreign tour operators for the sustainable development of Bulgarian winter resort

Role of Bulgarian tour operators for the sustainable development of Bulgarian winter resort

The way forward …

Tour operators and sustainable

development of resorts

Growing research (Carey, Gounta and Gilbert, 1997; Curtin and Busby, 1999; Budeanu, 2005; Wijk and Persoon, 2006; Schwartz, Tapper and Font, 2008; Sigala, 2008)

Tour operators and sustainable tourism (Sigala, 2008)

- Influence the volume and direction of tourist flows

- Integrate and affect attitudes and practices of suppliers and stakeholders

- Lead to widespread benefits due to their size

Sustainable chain management – product design, procurement, production, distribution, reverse logistic

Overview of Bulgarian winter resorts

Main winter resorts:

Rodope – Pamporovo, Chepelare, Gela, Momchilovtsi, Smolyan, Yundola

Rila – Borovets, Malyovitsa, Govedartsi, Panichishte, Semkovo, Belmeken

Pirin – Bansko, Razlog, Dobrinishte

Balkan – Uzana, Ribaritsa, Beklemeto, Karandila, Chumerna

Vitosha – ski zone Vitosha near Sofia

Overview of Bulgarian winter resorts

Concentration of major resorts in few districts – e.g. Blagoevgrad, Smolyan, Sofia

Overbuilding – construction of many new hotels and vacation homes

Medium distance from airports

Lower latitude and altitude compared to Alpine resorts – shorter season

Combination of skiing with cultural tourism, mineral springs

Popular during the summer season as well

Role of foreign tour operators for the

sustainable development

Offer package tours to only few resorts – Pamporovo, Borovets, Bansko – geographical concentration

Sell medium to large size properties

Flights to Sofia or Plovdiv

Offer programmes only during the winter – temporal concentration

Promote the destination as a “cheap”, “discount”, “budget” destination

Promote the natural beauty and hospitality of local residents

Large reservation systems (e.g. Expedia) feature hotels in winter resorts for FIT bookings

Strict hotel inspections (Balkan holidays UK)

Role of Bulgarian tour operators for

the sustainable development

Offer predominantly hotel accommodation to different resorts – FIT bookings

Sell all properties, including self-catering properties, guest houses, mountain huts

For package tours transportation is by bus

Winter ski and summer holidays in the mountains

Promote the resorts and hotels in them as both “best”, “exclusive”, “selected” and “cheap”, “budget” – “unforgettable holiday” in a “cheap” hotel in the “exclusive” resort of Bansko

Promote the natural beauty, eco tourism, active holidays, cultural sights

Include individual properties in Bulgarian online hotel reservation systems (e.g. Premier tours – www.premiertours.bg; Astral Holidays – www.tirs.net; NBTA – www.nbta.bg)

Contracts with hotels and inspections do not include environmental issues

The way forward …

Make mass tourism sustainable not move it elsewhere

Tour operators could stimulate the sustainable development of mountain resorts in Bulgaria by:

Educating tourists

Managing tourists’ choices

More even geographical and temporal distribution of tourist flows

Imposing sustainability standards on suppliers – certified suppliers

Promoting the cultural heritage and other attractions not just skiing

No arm twisting the hotels

Participation in sustainable tourism programmes

More active role of local representatives

References

Budeanu, A. (2005) Impacts and responsibilities for sustainable tourism: a tour operator’s perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production 13(2), 89-97

Carey, S., Y. Gounta, D. Gilbert (1997) Tour operators and destination sustainability. Tourism Management 18(7), 425-431

Curtin, S., G. Busby (1999) Sustainable destination development: the tour operator perspective. International Journal of Tourism Research 1(2), 135-147

Schwartz, K., R. Tapper, X. Font (2008) A sustainable supply chain management framework for tour operators. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 16(3), 298-314

Sigala, M. (2008) A supply chain management approach for investigating the role of tour operators on sustainable tourism: the case of TUI. Journal of Cleaner Production 16(15), 1589-1599

Wijk, J. van, W. Persoon (2006) A long-haul destination: Sustainability reporting among tour operators. European Management Journal 24(6) 381-395