ACCKA was represented at the 129th semi-annual ECTAA meeting, which this time was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in cooperation with the Bulgarian association ABTTA.

Upon arrival on Wednesday (23.10.), a welcome dinner was on the agenda, but we still managed to take a short walk around the area (a guided tour of the capital is planned for delegates on Friday).

Thursday (24.10.) was the main programme of the meeting, a full day conference.

At the beginning, the ECTAA President, Frank Oostdam, welcomed all participants and gave the opening remarks to the distinguished guests. They were the Deputy of the Ministry of Tourism (I. Georgieva), the Mayor of Sofia (V. Terziev) and the heads of ABTTA (D. Goranova, D. Stoeva).

After that, we already shifted our attention to presentations, e.g. on overtourism and sustainability, accessible tourism and last but not least on crisis and risk management, which was also linked to the presentation by the Director of the German DRSF on the decline of FTI and the lessons to be learned.

In the evening we listened to a traditional choir and then enjoyed an experiential dinner at Constantinoff RestoBar.

The Friday day (25.10.) of the ECTAA meeting was dedicated to European legislation and the Board meeting. Concluding remarks were presented by the Minister of Tourism, E. Miloshev. Afterwards, the ABTTA team and the Ministry of Tourism prepared for us a guided tour of the capital, starting with the iconic St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

 

 

 

Following the ECTAA meeting, delegates had the opportunity to participate in an extended post-meeting programme in Plovdiv and its surroundings.

Upon arrival we were lucky to visit a local Bulgarian wine festival. Next day we took a morning walk through the city of Plovdiv and visited, for example, the Roman Amphitheatre or Stepan Hindliyan's house. At the Zagreus Winery we had a guided tour combined with a wine tasting lunch. Then we moved on to the Bachkovo Monastery and finally to the Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis for a concert by the State opera Plovdiv.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner at the Valere restaurant (Vizualiza Hotel Plovdiv).

Thanks to ECTAA and ABTTA team!