Round Table Conference on the Role of Universities, Business, Politics and High Schools to Attract Young People to Tourism Was Held at Our University

For the third time the Economics of Tourism Department at UNWE organized a Round Table Conference on the Role of Universities, Business, Politics, and High Schools to Attract Young People to Tourism.

The Scientific Forum was attended by lecturers from the Department-organizer, its partners, representatives of the tourism business, directors of vocational schools of tourism in the country, undergraduates and Doctoral students.

During the event in the Scientific Councils Hall

The Forum was opened by Prof. Dr. Mariana Yaneva, Head of the Economics of Tourism Department. She introduced the participants and expressed her hope that the Round Table Conference would be very useful pointing out: "Hopefully, the discussions we will have at the Forum will help us find bigger opportunities, give an idea in what way, where and how the young people have options to develop in the tourism industry of Bulgaria".

"It is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov. It is an honour for the Economics of Tourism Department to organize this Round Table Conference in order to unite the efforts of all stakeholders for creating an appropriate ecosystem to attract young people to tourism", said Assoc. Prof. D.Sc. Michail Musov, Acting Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs and emphasized: "For young people the most important thing is to understand that the tourism industry is extremely diverse because it consists of different sectors such as accommodation, transport, dining places, entertainment and tourism services. It means that each one of you could find a career in it according to your knowledge, skills and personality. In the coming decades the realization in the tourism industry will not just be a job, it will be a mission. A mission related to the development of the multiplication effect of tourism in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. And sustainable tourism can only be developed through an active dialogue between the stakeholders that takes place in forums such as today's. The UNWE is the right place to hold such forums".

"I think that the topic of the Round Table Conference is extremely important because all the participants in the ecosystem should support each other and have to be partners and partnership means that the interests of all parties must be contented. The partnership, starting from the secondary education and then through the university, should go through very close cooperation of the business with the university and the university with the business, because just as the university should change according to the demands of the business so does the business - it should also adapt in terms of the new culture, because we all change", said Radoslav Zlatkov, CEO of Bulgaria Air.

"As a young entrepreneur I want to say that I personally believe in the young people in tourism, I try to have 90% motivated, ready, serious and committed to tourism young people in my company. For us it is extremely important to develop our company every day, we try to make some innovations every day, we digitalize in unison with the changing business environment and we strive to be one of the top 10 companies in Bulgaria", emphasized Boris Karageorgiev, representative of the travel agency Mistral Travel, graduate and Doctoral student from the Economics of Tourism Department.

Radoslav Zlatkov and Boris Karageorgiev /from the right to the left/

"The tourism is the industry of leisure. This industry requires people who are trained and educated at appropriate educational institutions. What the government can do immediately is to create opportunities for young people by giving them student loans and scholarships for education in the field of tourism. The relation between the business and school should be supported by the state. The educational institutions make efforts in this direscion, the municipalities alos do it because they have administration structures involved in tourism and usually they support locally the young people who want to develop in the field of tourism", said Dr. Violeta Doneva, Head of the Expert Group on Tourism of the party Democratic Bulgaria who is a graduate and has Doctoral degree from the UNWE.

"I want to tell the young people that they shouldn't stop with entrepreneurship and, figuratively speaking, to grow these seeds and see at what they are good, because if they have chosen to study tourism, they should know that it involves a lot of practice, a lot of science, but they also have to be committed to the people", said Yulia Popova, Coordinator of Unique Bansko - Association of Bansko Tavern-Keepers and added: "In the service sector we need young people who are motivated to work and at the same time if they have the entrepreneurial spirit to develop it and create a business in the field of tourism. They should not worry if they can't do it alone, because they could unite as we have done in our association, thus you could implement projects that are useful both for yourself and for the people in the business".

Dr. Violeta Doneva and Yulia Popova /from the right to the left/

Tsveta Spasova, Head of the Tourism and Advertising Department in Velingrad Municipality introduced the attendees to the work of the municipality with young people willing to engage in tourism and emphasized on the active cooperation they have with Aleko Konstantinov Vocational High School of Economics and Tourism /VHSE/ in Velingrad.

Lyubka Bailova, Director of Aleko Konstantinov Vocational High School of Economics and Tourism - Velingrad, Maria Kamenova, Chairman of the Board Management of the Bulgarian Association of Private Schools /BAPS/, Dr. Leona Aslanova, economist, innovation expert and Executive Director of Innovation Starter, also took part in the discussion.

The Round Table Conference continued with a lively discussion. Different options for keeping and attracting young people's interest in studying tourism specialties in secondary and higher education through opening new opportunities for more international internships, connecting training with business and achieving a higher level of predictability and sustainability in the tourism business were discussed.

Prof. D.Sc. Tanya Parusheva, Prof. Dr. Elenita Velikova, Chief Assist. Dr. Nikola Gaydarov from the Economics of Tourism Department /from the left to the right/