The eight edition of the National competition READ AND TRAVEL of the International tourism fair “Cultural tourism” – Veliko Tarnovo has ended. The competition is part of program of the fair and it takes part every year within the only specialized forum for cultural tourism in our country. Due to the cancellation of the forum last year, the jury now presents the awards for two years – 2019 and 2020. An additional opportunity for the Grand Jury Award was given to the participants not only in traditional but also online events.
According to an order RD-01-748/02.09.2021 of Ministry of Health-care about issuing temporary anti-epidemic measures on the territory of Republic of Bulgaria, the 17-th International tourism fair “Cultural tourism” is postponed until the spring of 2022. However, the editions of the National competition “READ & TRAVEL” and the National Student Competition for the best essay on tourist topic took place.
Winners of the awards of the National competition Read & Travel in the different categories are:
The Grand Jury Award for 2019 – The most original event in the field of cultural tourism for 2019 was awarded for “Atypical Night of Museums with Typical” of Sliven Municipality. The organizers of the event are the “Dr. Simeon Tabakov” Regional Historical Museum, “Dimitar Dobrovich”National Art Gallery, the National Museum of the Textile Industry, the Late Antique and Medieval Fortress Tuida and Sliven Municipality.
“Most interesting tourist publications” for 2019 – the award goes to the collection “MICE tourism: festivals, conferences, exhibitions” of the Varna Tourist Chamber.
In the category “Most original posters for events in the field of cultural tourism” with a concolation prize is awarded the poster for the festive concert “Vocal music in the works of Pancho Vladigerov” of UNESCO Club Varna.
The Grand Jury Prize for 2020 – The most original event in the field of cultural tourism for 2020 was awarded to the Municipality of Gabrovo for the Gabrovo Carnival – the world’s first carnival during isolation, an online version of the most popular event in Gabrovo in the field of cultural tourism. More than 90,000 people are in front of computer, tablet and smartphone screens to watch the event’s streaming program, and the first carnival during the isolation is broadcast on local radio. Instead of the traditional procession, only three carnival platforms pass through the streets of Gabrovo with three separate routes, which together set a record for the longest carnival route in Bulgaria – 33 km.
Encouraging prize in this category for 2020 is awarded to the Traveling Exhibition “Technology around us during the people’s rule” of the National Polytechnic Museum – Sofia.
In the category “Most interesting tourist publications” for 2020 – was awarded the guide “Seven days in the Rhodopes – from Ivaylovgrad to Gotse Delchev” by Eli Ivanova. The book describes 44 tourist sites, including fortresses, trails, waterfalls, bridges, springs, etc.
In the category for “Most professional tourist sites” for 2020 the prize was awarded to the Municipality of Varna for the official tourist portal of Varna – visit.varna.bg.
An encouraging prize in this category was awarded to the tourist blog “Bougie Streets” by Veselina Vasileva. In the multimedia platform for tourism, adventure, urban culture and leisure, Bulgaria is popularized as a tourist destination.
The organizers thank to all the participants in the National competition “Read & Travel”. Although held in a different format from the traditional one due to the anti-epidemic measures.
All the prizes will be awarded by Tsarevgrad Tarnov LTD. Information about the results of the competition is published on http://culturaltourism.info and http://read-travel.eu, as well as in the media.