Hotel Toma in the south-eastern city of Sliven has been named Green Lodge 2008 by the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism. The press conference/awards ceremony was held on the morning of December 2 2008 at Sofia City Art Gallery.
While recently receiving much criticism from the European Commission for its lack of fulfilling orders for preserving its natural environment and native animal species, Bulgaria, via the Green Lodge project, shows that not all related to the country's nature is going downhill. This year, its first-ever, the Green Lodge (Zelena Kushta/Зелена къща in Bulgarian, which literally means “Green House”) label gives recognition to Bulgarian guesthouses and family hotels that operate in a way that respects the surrounding natural environment. In addition, those that meet European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism standards receive the ECEAT label.
At the December 2 ceremony, Lyubomir Popyordanov, founder of alternative travel agency Odysseia-In and one of the initiators of the Green Lodge competition, said: “Dreams are one of the most important things in our lives. These Green Lodges show the dreams of all the participants in our competition, how they work in harmony with nature, how they invest their own selves in the project of creating a better Bulgaria.”
Stela Baltova, deputy director of the State Agency for Tourism, said that she was pleased with the increasing focus on green tourism in the country, while announcing that the agency had decided to name 2009 as the year of village and nature-ecological tourism in Bulgaria. She also praised the expansion of awareness and practice of sustainable tourism.
“Such tourism offers the possibility to feel close to the local culture and to nature,” she said.
The year 2008 had, to date, seen a 20 per cent increase on 2007 in the overall level of tourists, Baltova said. According to BAAT, village and eco tourism are sought out by between 0.5 and five per cent of tourists in Bulgaria.
Green Lodge evaluation committee members Daniela Nenkova, a State Agency for Tourism expert; HoReMag Editor-in-Chief Ekaterina Gelovska; Bulgarian National Radio journalist Zora Neikova and BAAT secretary Kiril Kaloyanov also shared their opinions of the process, while expressing an overall message of hope for the country's environmentally friendly future and a positive transition in local attitude.
“People are starting to think about our country and how to help preserve it,” Neikova said. She also said that many of the guesthouses were teaching children of guests about the environment during their stays.
When BAAT decided to organise the Green Lodge project back in May of 2008, Kaloyanov said, the first step was understanding the “strange requirements” that the rest of Europe followed. “We did not even have words in Bulgarian for some of the terms,” he said. But they succeeded, and the Bulgarian Green Lodge was born.
Overall, 27 sites were visited in all corners of the country, most of which were village locations. Of these, 14 received the Green Lodge label, which also indicated that they fulfilled ECEAT requirements, and nine were nominated for the Green Lodge label – meaning that they met the minimum requirements, but still had a few steps to go to receive the Green Lodge certification.
Special recognition was given in the categories of hospitality (to Eko Art), authentic architecture (Leshten), outstanding cooking using organic products (Villa Kibela), preservation of local traditions (Deshka) and local initiative for sustainable development.
In winning the Green Lodge grand prize, Hotel Toma also received the an award from one of the competition sponsors, Blueper/Kimberly-Clark.
The evaluation criteria for guesthouses and family hotels comprised the following:
- Economisation of water and energy, limited generation of waste;
- Organic agricultural practices;
- Use of products of local origin;
- Popularisation of environmentally friendly living to clients;
- Active support of and contribution to the local society; and
- Environmental preservation practices.
The Green Lodge initiative is supported by the State Agency for Tourism, Odysseia-In and Blueper. At the December 2 event, attendees were treated to organic Bulgarian food supplied by Harmonica, the distributor of Magdalena Maleeva's brand Bio (Био), and wine from the Brestovitsa cellar Villa Vinifera.
Nominees in the 2008 Green Lodge included:
1. Villa Colour Guesthouse, village of Gorno Trape, Troyan municipality
2. Madonna Tavern, village of Falkovets, Vidin municipality
3. Villa Kibela, village of Krapets, Dobrich municipality
4. Madonna Guesthouse, city of Belogradchik, Vidin municipality
5. Bacchus Hotel-Restaurant, village of Shipkovo, Troyan municipality
6. Maria-Nevena Guesthouse, village of Bezmer, Troyan municipality
7. Hotel Toma, city of Sliven
8. Byalata Kushta, village of Kovachevitsa, Razlog municipality
9. Deshka Guesthouse, village of Gorno Draglishte, Razlog municipality
10. U Niquo Guesthouse, village of Orehovo, Chepelare municipality
11. Sreburna Guesthouse, village of Sreburna, Silistra municipality
12. Panayotova Kushta, village of Delchevo, Gotse Delchev municipality
13. Pamporova Kushta, city of Smolyan
14. Pavlova Kushta, city of Chiprovtsi
15. Leshten Complex, village of Leshten, Gurmen municipality
16. Stari Bistrilishki Kushti, village of Bistrilitsa, Montana municipality
17. Sinyata Kushta, village of Banya, Pazardjik municipality
18. Moravsko Selo Bio-Hotel, village of Predel, Razlog municipality
19. Kralev Dvor, city of Bansko
20. Hadjipopova Kushta, city of Bansko
21. Vili Spassovi
22. Argirovi Guesthouses, village of Arda, Smolyan municipality
23. Eko Art Guesthouse
24. Alexievata Kushta, village of Gourgoulyat, Slivnitsa municipality
