Innovation and Competitiveness in the Context of the Bulgarian Tourism Industry

Despite the global challenges, international tourism has still achieved dynamic growth and undegone continued expansion. Travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes is an important source of economic growth in many countries. This holds particularly true for Bulgaria as it is a small, less developed and structurally weak country which faces the tremendous challenges of the rapidly changing and highly competitive global market. Without effective and coordinated government policies and actions tourism would not succeed to exploit fully its potential for inclusive and sustainable growth. The financial leakages expressed primarily in loss in revenue from tourism due to the low competitiveness of the sector, can significantly narrow the positive economic benefits of tourism and make the country vulnerable to negative economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts. Competitiveness, as it is evidenced in the literature reviewed in the article, depends on the development of the differentiated capabilities needed to sustain growth which could be created through innovation. According to this article, the industry could be enhanced through the different types of innovation. This applies to the whole country, to the various subnational regions, and to the individual tourism enterprises. Indeed, it is worth emphasizing that enhancing the competitiveness of economies, whose companies are exposed to international competition, depends on innovation. In that context the article aims to identify the types of innovation in tourism and the main areas where they could be applied while searching for possibilities to increase the competitiveness of the Bulgarian tourism industry and to ensure its sustainable growth.