Bulgarian operator Balkan Holidays is introducing Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to its winter 2000/01 programme for the first time since 1980.
The initiative is part of the operator’s plans to become a specialist for the whole of Eastern Europe.
Chairman Stefan Kossev said: “While Bulgaria will remain our core product, our strategy now is to find new places and expand the programme. We aim to be a specialist for the whole of Eastern Europe and not just Bulgaria. It also helps us spread the risk – during the Kosovo crisis, we took no bookings.”
He added: “The three countries we have chosen are all emerging markets, we believe they have huge potential. If Poland and the Czech Republic join the European Union it will further raise their profile. We want to be in there from the start to capitalise on the increased interest. We rejected Hungary as a lot of operators already go there.”
The trio of countries will feature in the operator’s winter 2000/01 brochure. With its enlarged programme, Balkan Holidays will target different market sectors by issuing two brochures for summer 2001. One will cover lakes and mountains, city breaks and tours, the other will focus on beach holidays on the Black Sea and Adriatic coast. To raise agent awareness of its core Bulgarian product, the company is starting a training programme in Manchester this month.
One-day product sessions will take place in Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London in the new year.
Educationals are also in the pipeline. Balkan Holidays will send 20 agents to the ski resorts of Pamporovo and Borovets for a week in mid-February.
A second group of 20 agents will visit the Black Sea beach resorts of Golden Sands, Albena and Sunny Beach in mid-July. The company is aiming to carry 40,000 clients next year, an increase of 10,000 over 1999.