SOFIA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria should make tourism a national cause because of its importance to the national economy, the country's Minister of Tourism Stela Baltova said here on Wednesday.
"Tourism is the sector that has the greatest impact on all other sectors in Bulgaria and has the potential to give the highest growth in gross domestic product," Baltova said at the opening ceremony of the 34th edition of the international tourist fair Holiday & SPA Expo.
Bulgarian Caretaker Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdjikov, who also attended the ceremony, said that last year was extremely fruitful for Bulgarian tourism.
Over eight million foreign tourists visited the country and revenues from international tourism exceeded six billion BGN (3.2 billion U.S. dollars), Gerdjikov said.
These great results were due primarily to the beautiful nature of Bulgaria and increasingly better use of natural resources, he said.
The three-day event gathered together over 350 exhibitors.
A single purchase
