Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 20 ISSUE 1
Written by Ivanka LULCHEVA

The modern tourist is increasingly looking for a complex tourist product that will not only offer him something new, different, exotic and provoke his intelligent curiosity, but also affect all his senses and perceptions. It is this tourist demand that opens the market niche for the development of wine and culinary tourism. The purpose of this research is to study and establish the state of culinary tourism in Bulgaria. Our studies show that, combined with other types of alternative tourism, culinary tourism can contribute a great deal to increasing the interest of tourists - both domestic and foreign - to tourism in rural areas and, consequently, to the revitalization of these areas. In order to study the state and opportunities for the development of cultural tourism in Bulgaria, a survey was conducted in the period 06.2018 - 07.2018. 100 randomly selected tourists were surveyed. The study was carried out with the help of a travel agency from Plovdiv. The respondents were between 16 and 55 years old. The subject of the study are the seven most clearly identified culinary regions in the country: 1. The stretch of Stara Planina; 2. The Black Sea region; 3. The Danube region, including the arc from Vidin to Silistra; 4. Thrace, the Thracian plain; 5. The region of the Rhodope Mountains; 6. Western Bulgaria; 7. The region of Pirin Macedonia. In each of these culinary areas there is an inherited and distinct unique traditional cuisine, cuisine and food. A SWOT analysis of culinary tourism in these regions was carried out. As the strengths prevail and their influence is almost twice as strong as the weaknesses, and the opportunities for the development of culinary tourism are greater than the threats to it, it can be assumed that these culinary areas have all the necessary conditions for the development of culinary tourism. Tourists' interest in culinary tourism, especially combined with wine tourism, is increasing. The study and the analysis summarize the conclusions and recommendations for the further development of culinary tourism.

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