ITIC Tourism Investment Summit in
Sofia, Bulgaria on the 12 – 14 September 2022
Investment facilitation and support to tap tourism opportunities in Central, Eastern and South-east Europe
The International Tourism Investment Corporation (ITIC) will be holding its ‘Central, Eastern and Southeast Tourism Investment Summit’ from the 12th to the 14th September 2022 at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria.
As investors in the tourism industry are increasingly paying attention to the social and environmental footprint of their projects, the Central, Eastern and South-east European regions offer unrivalled opportunities for new hospitality developments in terms of greater sustainability, resilience and innovation.
The ITIC Tourism Investment Summit will bring together policy makers, tourism ministers, project owners and investors so that they can unleash the potential of the tourism industry of Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe for the benefit of all stakeholders especially of local communities. For investors, private equity firms, fund managers and financiers in quest of novel business opportunities, this event might turn out to be the chance of their lifetime since these parts of Europe are still endowed with unspoiled natural sites to be integrated to international travellers’ routes.
The Chairman of ITIC Ltd and invest Tourism Ltd and former Secretary-General of UNWTO, Dr Taleb Rifai, is of opinion that “Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe have an impressive diversity of cultural and heritage sites. Hospitality development needs to be unlocked for these markets to realise their full potential. Through our Summit, we will bring our contribution in fostering investments and partnerships as well as shape better tourism policies to make these regions become tomorrow the most popular destinations for tourists from all over the world.”
According to Ibrahim Ayoub, the Group CEO of ITIC, “this Summit aims at encouraging a paradigm shift for the social inclusiveness of tourism investments and act as a change enabler as these destinations have a diverse and rich cultural but also a historic legacy”. “We aim at putting forward central, Eastern and south-east Europe to reveal the extent of their untapped tourism potentialities and the vast opportunities in terms of new infrastructure and services”.
Furthermore, in this post covid-era and looking at the challenges of the sector in the region, the tourism ministers attending the Summit, will be laying down the foundations of a new roadmap aimed at enhancing these regions long-term tourism attractiveness by exchanging views and joining forces through collaborative common initiatives.
Moreover, the mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova pointed out: ‘I am glad that the International Tourism Investment Corporation has chosen Sofia as a host. Sofia accounts for 40% of the country’s GDP and has a huge tourism potential, we promote the development of the city as a tourist destination and invest in revealing its rich cultural and historical heritage, because tourism is an important factor in the economy of our city.’
Finally, Mrs Nikolina Angelkova, Member of parliament and Deputy Chair of Tourism Committee and Former Minister of tourism of Bulgaria has expressed her confidence that “the ITIC Summit will increase the visibility of Bulgaria and of the region, leading to a sustained growth in investment in the sector.”