Cultural Tourism opens in Veliko Tarnovo with over 40 exhibitors

Updated 7 October: The 21st Cultural Tourism international exhibition has opened in Veliko Tarnovo. It runs until 9 October with over 40 exhibitors and participants, Municipal Radio reported.

The forum at Business Centre Veliko Tarnovo brings together more than 40 exhibitors and participants – municipalities, tourism organisations, institutions, business representatives and international partners. International participants include representatives from China, Azerbaijan and Niš.

What is on the programme

Today, 7 October, at 15:00 is the discussion Tourism amid global change.

On 8 October at 14:00 a meeting between education and business is scheduled, and on 9 October at 10:30 the national meeting of tourist information centres will take place.

The exhibition showcases cultural, historical and alternative tourism, new tourism products and partnership opportunities between municipalities, businesses and cultural institutions. For Veliko Tarnovo, the forum is also an opportunity to present the city and the region to a professional and international audience.

Side initiatives are also taking place alongside the exhibition, including LOCAL BITES, featuring local flavours and community cultural centres from the region.

New figures from the opening

At the opening, deputy tourism minister Mariela Modeva reported over 7 million tourists in Bulgaria during January–September. For May–September, she cited 5.7 million, including over 3.5 million foreign tourists. These figures come from her statement published by the Regional Administration.

Updated on 7 October 2026 with figures from Mariela Modeva's statement.

Veliko Tarnovo Regional Administration – opening and statement

About the opening: Veliko Tarnovo Municipal Radio – 7 October.

Sources: BGTourism.bg – programme and participants for the 2026 edition; Tsarevgrad Tarnov – 2026 business programme. The event is being held in Veliko Tarnovo from 7 to 9 October.

Archive illustrative photo – not taken at the exhibition itself: Pudelek (Marcin Szala) / Wikimedia Commons, file page, CC BY-SA 3.0. The image has been cropped and resized to 1200×675 px. The adapted version is used under the same licence.