Bulgaria’s first presentation at the traditional spa tourism expo “ Les Thermalies”, held in Paris, from January 24 to 27, made a stunning impression. Over 40 thousand people visited the Louvre to get acquainted with the new products and tendencies in the field of spa tourism. Bulgaria was one of the 300 exhibitors from all over the world. Visitors swarmed over our very beautiful stand offering information on the renowned Bulgarian spa resorts.

Still few people abroad know that Bulgaria is the country with the largest number of mineral springs in Europe after Iceland – the country of hot geysers. Unlike that northern country, Bulgaria offers a multiple choice of thermal springs with varying mineral content and several curative qualities. There are over 600 mineral springs marked on the map of the country, side by side the remains of numerous Roman thermal baths. In Sofia there are about 10 mineral springs and another four spa centers around it – the suburbs of Knyajevo, Gorna Banya, Ovcha Kupel and Bankya. There are hundreds of settlements that contain the name ‘bath’ in them.
“We should admit that in the last decades a large number of spa centers across the country were rather neglected and lagged behind from the modern idea for recreation and therapy. The restoration of the sector started some 5-6 years ago but it is recovering pretty fast. Today Bulgaria can offer a new range of beautiful hotels with high-level spa services. It is the evolution of the sector that made possible Bulgaria’s first appearance at the Thermalies exposition in Paris. France is the country, that launched the “Thalassotherapy” (sea-water and sea-derivates therapy) two centuries ago. Nowadays this concept includes everything related to mineral waters – hot and cold, as well as to other natural products such as curative mud, minerals, seaweeds, vegetal aromatic substances, oils etc. “Proclaimed as the year of the spa tourism in Bulgaria, 2007 was marked by the dynamic development of modern tourist products to be offered internationally, explained for Radio Bulgaria Nikolai Yotovski from the State Agency on Tourism. Many new beautiful hotels with spa centers have been built. A new regulation has been adopted with stricter requirements in terms of spa hotels categorization. Now we can confidently open ourselves to such an exigent public in that sector as is the French one. Until now they have been relating spa tourism in Bulgaria mainly to sea tourism. The combination of relaxation and treatment can very well be combined with other types of tourism such as business trips, eco-tourism or cultural tourism. French visitors were especially interested in rheumatic fever and psoriasis treatment possibilities, Yotovski added.
Bulgaria will present itself in Paris once more  during the International tourism salon in mid-March, when the lead will be “cultural tourism”.