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The Bulgarian alpine ski competitor Albert Popov becomes the new face of our winter tourism and a symbolic ambassador of destination and brand Bulgaria.

After the historic victory, which conquered the 25-year hope of Bulgarian sports, he is already the recipient of another award, which was presented to him today by Minister Ilin Dimitrov

Ilin Dimitrov was born in 1983. He completed his secondary education in a high school with the teaching of - Golden Rose, a symbol of the destination Bulgaria and of Bulgarian tourism, the press center of the Ministry of Tourism announced.

Just two days after winning third place in the Alpine World Cup slalom at the Palisades Tahoe American Winter Center, Albert Popov was a guest at the Ministry of Tourism at the invitation of Acting Minister Dr. Ilin Dimitrov

Ilin Dimitrov was born in 1983. He completed his secondary education in a high school with teaching.

Albert Popov arrived carrying his bronze prize, accompanied by his coach Ivaylo Borisov.

The meeting was attended by the chairman of the Bulgarian Ski Federation, Tseko Minev, and its vice-chairman, Georgi Bobev.

Minister Dimitrov congratulated the team on the great success.

"After your landmark victory, with which you made us proud, we would like to include you in the giant tourism slalom as our tourism ambassador, and this goes with a special award - the symbol of Bulgaria and the Ministry - the Golden Rose.

Thank you very much for everything you have done." With these words, Minister Dimitrov turned to Albert Popov, handing him the award.

The athlete replied that he accepted this honor with great pleasure and expressed his willingness to become the new face of our winter tourism.

In the conversation, Minister Dimitrov pointed out the advantages of the beautiful Bulgarian nature and mountains, and the representatives of BFSki and Popov's team emphasized that they visited many ski resorts and the largest winter centers in Europe and in the world, and Bulgaria is in no way inferior to them, even often surpasses them.

The president of BFSki Tseko Minev, who earlier highlighted the achievement of the Bulgarian athlete, saying that this success was long awaited, commented on the conditions for professional sports and the practice of winter sports by tourists and mountain lovers on the Bulgarian ski slopes. 

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The Federation pointed out the great recognition that Bulgaria hosts the starts of the World Cup for alpine skiing, as, according to them, it is very difficult to fight for them against the background of the great competition on a global scale.

It was emphasized in the conversation that it is important to realize our potential as a country.

The possibilities for practicing winter sports and tourism were discussed and the possibilities for this potential to be upgraded and developed, while also thinking about the protection of natural resources.

There are probably very few countries where you can go skiing 20 minutes from an international airport, emphasized the minister, referring to Sofia.

"Our dream is to ski and train on Vitosha," shared Albert Popov.

Minister Dimitrov emphasized that the winter season is currently successful and we are no longer talking about recovery, but about growth compared to the pre-pandemic years.

MT reports growth with 27% more tourists compared to the previous year and 5% more compared to 2019.

Albert Popov, who finished third, was only 24 hundredths away from victory.

And for the first time in 39 years, a Bulgarian again got on the podium with a similar achievement in skiing after Petar Popangelov, who did it for the last time in 1984 in Madonna di Campillo.

Ilin Dimitrov

winter tourism

Model

Albert Popov