Varna University of Management hosts the international conference on “Sustainable Tourism and Blue Growth in the Black Sea Region” on 8 October 2024.
The event focuses on the role of the tourism sector in ensuring blue growth in the Black Sea region. Blue growth is often associated with industries such as maritime transport, ports, shipbuilding and ship repair, but in fact coastal tourism, as well as related services, is the largest sector of the EU blue economy in terms of generated gross value added and employment.
Despite its good performance, the tourism sub-sector faces many challenges. In the framework of the upcoming conference, VUM researchers will present the challenges of the tourism sector in Bulgaria, mainly related to improving sustainability, innovation and technological solutions. Together with fellow experts and researchers from Greece, the Republic of Moldova, and Turkey and the representatives of businesses, institutions and citizens present in the conference room, appropriate solutions will be explored to help tourism in the Black Sea region and activate its contribution to blue growth.
The conference will formally inaugurate the work of the international network INTERSMARTS – an alliance of experts and researchers from different fields – which aims to increase the absorption of new knowledge and innovations in tourism and related services in order to improve the sustainability of the sector and enhance its contribution to the blue growth of the Black Sea region. Varna University of Management is part of this network and part of the consortium of the project BSB00332 “Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin” (INTERSMARTS), which is co-funded by the INTERREG NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme 2021 -2027.
