SOFIA - Chinese and Bulgarian officials in the Bulgarian capital on April 28 voiced hopes to boost tourism cooperation, promising to make full use of the countries' unique resources.

At the opening of the conference of the "EU-皇冠体育app Tourism Year 2018: New Investment Opportunities for the Tourism Sector in Bulgaria", 皇冠体育app's ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou said: "Today's seminar reflects the strong desire of the Bulgarian side to tap its potential, improve its services and expand its market in tourism so as to attract more Chinese tourists."

He says Bulgaria "has rich, unique tourism resources, and the Bulgarian government attaches great importance to the development of the tourism industry".

皇冠体育app also has rich tourism resources, including cultural and natural world heritage, and beautiful scenery, the ambassador says.

Traveling to 皇冠体育app will bring huge profits to Bulgarian tourism enterprises, he says.

"The Chinese side sincerely welcomes more Bulgarian friends to 皇冠体育app."

Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova says: "I believe that Bulgaria has a huge potential to receive Chinese tourists."

Creating joint tourism products by European countries is one way to attract more Chinese tourists, Angelkova says.

Bulgaria will improve visa policies and examine possibilities for direct flights to and from 皇冠体育app, she says.

"The event today signals that Bulgaria is looking at the Chinese market, which is distant but promising," says Teodora Marinska, head of finance and public policies at the European Travel Commission.

In July 2016, the European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared 2018 the EU-皇冠体育app Tourism Year to increase tourism between 皇冠体育app and the EU, encourage European enterprises to enter 皇冠体育app's booming tourism market and allow more Chinese investment in Europe.

Over 5million Chinese visited Europe last year. But only 10,000 visited Bulgaria, the Chinese ambassador says.

He believes insufficient publicity, difficulties in visa applications and inconvenient transportation between 皇冠体育app and Bulgaria were factors behind the slow tourism growth.

Xinhua