Informes Sectoriales OP - Icex

TOURISM AND RELATED SERVICES IN BULGARIA
Under the Tourism Act, for implementing tour-operator or tourist agent activity in
the register shall be entered a person meeting the following requirements:
♦ to be trader in the sense of the Commercial law or corporate body with right
by the force of another law to implement economic activity;
♦ to have staff with appropriate education, language qualification and practice;
♦ the person, implementing the functions for management of tour-operator or
tourist agent activity shall have appropriate education, language qualification
and practice;
♦ to have ensured appropriate premises for implementing tour-operator or tourist
agent activity;
♦ to have concluded preliminary contract for insurance;
♦ to be not in procedure for liquidation or insolvency’
♦ to have not implemented tour-operator or tourist agent activity without license/registration
during the last 12 months;
♦ to be not with withdrawn license/deleted registration for implementing the respective
activity during the last 12 months.
In order to enter the register, the persons shall submit application according to a
model, in which shall be pointed out: the kind of the tourist activity, for which registration
is required, name and address of the person, respectively headquarters, address
of management, tax number and BULSTAT code, when there are such, as well
as address of the tourist site.
At carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity on the territory of the country
the tour operator or tourist agent shall conclude contracts with registered tour
operators or tourist agents, with licensed insurers and carriers, guides, animators,
mountain guides, ski-teachers, persons, offering water, flying and other tourist services
with increased risk for the consumer, with professional qualification and experience
as well as with persons implementing tourist activity in categorized tourist
sites.
Hotel and restaurant managers should also be traders. They perform their activity in
categorized facilities (hotels, motels, villas, camping sites, restaurants, bars, cafeterias,
etc.). The person that is to perform hotel and restaurant management should
acquire the necessary permissions from the relevant municipality, and should abide
to the standards of the Regional Inspections for Protection and Control of the Public
Health, the National Fire and Emergency Service.
Hotel keeping or restaurant keeping shall be carried out by a person who:
♦ is an entrepreneur in the context of the Commercial Law or who is a corporate
body having the right, by virtue of another law, to carry out economic
activity;
♦ is not under proceedings for liquidation or bankruptcy.
Perception of “gray” economy presence in the sector
Some hotel owners and developers are perceived by tourism professionals and the
general public as people who are interested in tourism only to invest money accumulated
from activities in other sectors of the economy, sometimes with lack of transparency
as to the origin of the funds. There are some doubts that sometimes construction
permits are issued to specific developers for sites that have been until then
off-limits for other applicants. However, as a rule these development projects have
perfect documentation and it is difficult to claim any legal missteps.
There are also doubts of corrupt practices in issuing licenses to hotel and restaurant
Spanish Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in Sofia 47