There is shortage of personnel in Bulgaria’s tourism both in the winter and the summer tourist seasons, Bulgaria’s Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova said at the Interdepartmental Council on Tourism Staff. Bulgaria’s Minister of Labor and Social Policy Biser Petkov, representatives of Bulgarian labor unions and of the Bulgaria-Germany Vocational Training Center State Enterprise (DBBZ) also attended the council. The Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and DBBZ signed an agreement that will enable employers in tourism to train and re-train its employees in two directions. More from Bulgaria’s Tourism Minister Angelkova:

The first type of qualification and requalification is directed to the unemployed people registered at the offices of the National Employment Agency. The second one provides dual education to employed people. Thus, employers can invest in requalification of personnel and keep their staff for certain amount of time in their enterprise afterwards. Bulgaria’s tourism industry experiences staff shortage both in the winter and the summer season. Some employers who have businesses in winter and summer resorts manage to provide permanent jobs to their employees. However, those who do business either in the winter or the summer season only are facing difficulties. That is why it is extremely important to provide opportunities for training and re-training and facilitate seasonal employment of workers from third countries as a temporary measure. We have been working in this direction in the past two years.

Unemployment in tourism is practically close to zero, Minister Angelkova says. In 2017 over 335,000 people were employed in Bulgaria’s tourism sector and related industries. According to Bulgaria’s Minister of Labor and Social Policy Biser Petkov, one of the cabinet’s policies in the social sphere aims at facilitating and speeding up the procedure for registration of seasonal employees. That is why in 2018 the number of registered seasonal workers in Bulgaria’s tourism doubled and amounted to over 7,800 people. The authorities are looking for other alleviations that would solve the problem related to the shortage of workforce in this sector. For instance, Bulgaria already signed agreements on labor migration with Moldova and Armenia. Minister Petkov told Radio Bulgaria details about the opportunities provided by the Bulgaria-Germany Vocational Training Center State Enterprise:

The Bulgaria-Germany Vocational Training Center State Enterprise aims at fulfilling measures which are part of the National Employment Action Plan. We have the opportunity to train and qualify unemployed people in tourism related industries between two active summer seasons. Their travel and accommodation expenses are paid by the National Employment Action Plan.

Training at theBulgaria-Germany Vocational Training Center has different duration. The shortest training lasts for two months and the unemployed people will be directed for requalification by the National Employment Agency. The training will be held at the offices of the Bulgaria-Germany Vocational Training Center in Smolyan and Tsarevo in two directions - “Hotel and Restaurant Business” and “Travel, Tourism and Leisure”.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov