Aneliya Taneva 1 Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis, 2009 Tourism Product Development: Rediscovering the Ancient Thracian City of Seuthopolis in the context of the natural and cultural assets of the Valley of the Thracian Kings in Central Bulgaria for National Unity „Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage‟ under the „Seuthopolis‟ National Initiative or Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis Thesis I hereby declare that this thesis is wholly the work of Aneliya Taneva. Any other contributors or sources have either been referenced in the prescribed manner or listed in the acknowledgments together with the nature and scope of their contribution. Aneliya Taneva Student at the NHTV University of Applied Sciences ITMC International Tourism Management and Consultancy Bachelor degree program © May 2009 Breda, The Netherlands Aneliya Taneva 2 Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis, 2009 PREFACE I have been keeping myself informed about everything which is going on around the initiative of National Unity "Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage” ever since I understood about the project about a year and a half ago. It provoked my professional interest not only because it is situated in my home country, but also due to its modern architectural design and cultural significance. Since I was following the development of the initiative, I noticed that nobody was really thinking in depth of the future tourism product which would occur in case the project is realized. This is how my wish to participate and contribute to its development was born. Moreover, the courses at NHTV which were related to product development have always been of special interest to me and I would like to gain experience in this field. In my opinion, involving myself in the Seuthopolis project is a great opportunity to learn more at this subject and put it into practice. Working on an actual project motivated me to the utmost and even though the process was not easy, I put all my will, efforts and responsibility in it. Furthermore, I feel obligation towards my home country and would like to commit my final Bachelor study work to enhancing the tourism product of Bulgaria. I also realize that if Seuthopolis begins operation according to the proposition for tourism product development which I have written, this would be a big first step in building my career as a tourism consultant. Wholeheartedly, I wish and believe that I will witness how Seuthopolis welcomes its guests in the near future. Aneliya Taneva Aneliya Taneva 3 Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was written for the purpose of completing my bachelor studies of International Tourism Management and Consultancy at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. It was powered by the academic knowledge and practical experience which I have gained during the last four years. That is why I would like to express my gratitude to all lecturers who have contributed to them and have inspired me. I owe many thanks to my supervising lecturer Mrs. Lucette Roovers for her guidance and advice. My work on this project would not have become reality without the acceptance, positive attitude and immense assistance of my commissioner National Unity ‘Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage’. Thank you for trusting me and giving me the great opportunity to directly contribute to the ‘Seuthopolis’ initiative. I would like to express my special thanks to Mr. Andrey Stoychev who provided me with any information I needed and helped me in the difficult process of primary research. During my field research I met Mr. Kosyo Zarev – the principal of Museum ‘Iskra’ in the town of Kazanlak. I would like to express my gratitude for his attention and kind cooperation. Last but not least, I thank my parents who have always been supporting me during my studies and took care of me throughout the long process of thesis writing. Thank you. Aneliya Taneva 4 Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis, 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The tourism industry is the fastest growing one on a global level. Respectively, it is one of the most developing businesses in Bulgaria, contributing not only to the country’s economy, but also to its popularity as a tourism destination internationally. Bulgaria’s tourism has undergone turbulent development and improvement in the recent years of capitalist economy and globalization. However, it remains quite simplistic due to the mostly basic types of tourism taking place in the country. “Despite the excellent conditions in the country for cultural heritage tourism”, no progress has been achieved in this branch (George Prohasky Ph.D., 2005). The ancient Thracian city of Seuthopolis, which is the major subject of this paper, is situated in the heart of Thracia – one of the recently defined tourist regions by the State Agency for Tourism in Bulgaria. This is namely the Valley of the Thracian Kings. Seuthopolis is the most famous underwater archaeological site in Bulgaria, situated on the bottom of the Koprinka dam. It was found by the Thracian ruler Seuthes III in 323 B.C. and became the capital of the Odrysian Kingdom – the best developed Thracian city. After its discovery and research in 1948-1954, it was sunk by the waters of the artificial lake due to the impudent attitude of that time ruling communist system towards the unique cultural heritage. Architect Tilev’s modern project to rediscover the unknown secrets of Seuthopolis holds a great potential to reveal vast significant knowledge about Thracia and to create a unique tourism product. It suggests the possibility to uncover, preserve and partially reconstruct the city while making it publicly accessible in situ. “The ancient city is taken back from the water through a circular dam wall, resembling a well on the bottom of which, as on a stage, is presented the historical epic of Seuthopolis”. For the management of the Seuthopolis project is responsible the Bulgarian NGO, National Unity ‘Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage’, who has assigned the author of this work to develop a tourism product which would turn architect Tilev’s project into an internationally famous tourist attraction. The overall goal of this paper is to: Help National Unity "Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage" in the preservation and development of the Bulgarian cultural, historical and social values, while developing a well-planned and (inter)nationally competitive tourism product for the “Seuthopolis” project. The result is a proposition for the development of the tourism product of Seuthopolis in the context of the natural and cultural assets of the Valle of the Thracian Kings. In order to complete this paper, the following research questions had to be answered throughout the working process: 1. Do Bulgaria and the Valley of the Thracian Kings in particular have potential for cultural tourism development? 2. Which are the desired target markets? What are their needs and preferences? 3. Who would be the main competitors of Seuthopolis? 4. What do the potential clients expect from Seuthopolis? 5. What should be done to make visiting Seuthopolis a memorable experience? 6. What are the unique selling points of the Seuthopolis tourism product? 7. What conclusions and recommendations for further development can be given? Aneliya Taneva 5 Tourism Product Development of Seuthopolis, 2009 The thorough analysis of the cultural tourism potential of Bulgaria and the Valley of the Thracian Kings indicates a clear superiority of cultural tourism demand to supply of such products in the country. This issue is obvious: starting from the major public institutions exercising power over the development of cultural tourism – the Ministry of Culture and the State Agency for Tourism, seeing the development level of the common and tourist infrastructure in the Valley, and witnessing the need for stronger local participation. The high visitation of Thracian cultural sites by both Bulgarian and foreign residents is a fact despite the missing market approach and special tourism product design. Still, it appears that the increasing demand for cultural tourism products from abroad is gradually “opening the eyes” of tourism businesses, and those which are mainly engaged in large-scale tourism developments, are now redirecting their forces towards this growing tourist segment. The target market segments, which were taken into consideration when designing the tourism product of Seuthopolis, were chosen as a result of a detailed overview of the characteristics of the tourist flows in Bulgaria. According to the statistics on the socio-demographic profile and travel behavior of foreign tourists of the State Agency for Tourism, the most durable and reliable segments are: couples between the age of 26 and 35; families with young children between the age of 36 and 45; and empty nesters at the age of 56 and above. It also becomes clear that most important foreign cultural tourist markets come from the UK, Spain, Italy and Japan. When the same analysis approach was applied to the domestic tourist flow, it became evident that people between the age of 26 and 46, together with school children share the highest propensity to visit cultural sites. An interesting market segment which is of great importance to Seuthopolis turned out to be those Bulgarians who are residing abroad. A primary research indicates that those Bulgarians living abroad, who are aged above 56, visit cultural sites the most and respondents between the age of 26 to 35 and 36 to 45 are equally interested in combining both types of tourism, but are still more interested in cultural sites in general. Another survey, conducted in relation to people’s expectations from the development of the project demonstrates their positive attitude, personal perceptions and specific wishes. They form one common idea of self improvement through knowledge delivered by means of authenticity, culturality, interactivity, modernity and experienceship. From the evaluation of Bulgaria’s cultural tourism competition it can be concluded that it is a country which is so culturally rich that if proper investment, marketing and management is implemented, it can outrun even the success of Greece and the potential of Turkey – its two major competitors.