More than 150,000 people use Bulgarian spa and wellness services every year. For the time being however most of the customers were Bulgarian, said Stanislav Novakov, deputy-chairman of the State Agency for Tourism, quoted by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

With the development of the Velingrad, Kyustendil and Bansko resorts, for the past couple of years these places have begun to attract foreign tourists working and living in Bulgaria too. These services are rediscovered by the citizens of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States also.

Of about 800 known mineral springs in Bulgaria, only 5 had been piped and were used, Novakov reminded. At the last session of the National Tourism Council a decision was made to form and interdepartmental council to develop a strategy for the development of spa and wellness tourism in Bulgaria and its marketing, Novakov said.

This year and last year spa and wellness were one of the priorities of the State Agency for Tourism. In 2008 the agency would focus its efforts on the development of golf and cultural tourism, Novakov announced. A series of seminars on the topic of “Spa Wellness Tourism in the Countries from the Central European Initiative” will be hosted by the State Agency for Tourism between 24 and 27 April.

The seminars will be held in Sofia, Kyustendil, Velingrad, Bansko and Katarino, and the conclusive session will take place in Hisarya. Representatives of Austria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia have confirmed their attendance.