Over 300 million EUR could potentially be invested in golf courses in Bulgaria if the state provides private investors with plots suitable for golfing.

This statement was made by Krassimir Gergov, Chair of the National Tourist Board at the Fourth International Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Madrid, Spain.

If in 5 years golf courses were not built on the plots provided by the state, such plots would be automatically recalled, Gergov specified.

Gergov gave the example of Turkey where the yearly profit from a golf course is over 5 million EUR with the strong possibility for the same amounts to be reached in Bulgaria.

He further announced that this fall, from September 24 to 28, Bulgaria would host the International Golf Tournament Bulgaria Open. The tournament will take place at the Black Sea Ram golf course in Balchik and is expecting golfers from over 20 countries. In the fall the Black Sea Ram is already going to be an 18-hole course making the international tournament possible.

According to statement made by Poli Karastoyanova, Executive Director of the National Tourist Board, tourism in Bulgaria creates 15% of the Gross Domestic Product, providing 300 000 job opportunities and realizing over 3 billion EUR of yearly revenue.

Other presentations at the Media Meeting included those of Plamen Mollov, Chair of the National Viticulture and Wine Chamber and Nikoly Vassilev, Minster of State Administration.

Mollov presented the possibilities for development of wine tourism in Bulgaria. He gave the example of the Melnik wine, which was known as Winston Churchill's favorite one. Churchill used to order 500 bottles of it each year.

Vassilev presented in front of the media its Agency's transliteration project providing for a unified spelling of Bulgarian geographical and other names in Latin.