Bulgaria Looks Up to Italy to Develop Equestrian Tourism

Bulgaria is set to learn from Italy's good practices in order to develop its own equine tourism, according to Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism, Ivo Marinov.

Marinov met Friday in Sofia with Luigi Triossi, Secretary General of the International Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITE); Alberto Spineli, Preisdent of the Italian Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITETREC-Ante); and Fausto Faggioli, VP of the Regional Federation of Equestrian Tourism of the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, who is also the head of the European Academy for Development of Rural Territories (EART Academy).

According to the Italian guests, Bulgaria has a wonderful potential to develop equestrian tourism, where Marinov believes equestrian tourism could be one of the keys to turning Bulgaria into a year-round tourism destination.

Tourists from the USA and Canada are said to be the most interested ones in equestrian tourism.

Triossi, Spineli, and Faggioli also invited Bulgaria to participate in a specialized equestrian tourism expo in Italy's Verona in November 2012.

Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has promised to research the participation options and to send Bulgarian representatives with funding from its project under EU Operational Program Regional Development for participation in specialized expos.