What It Means to Be an Emerging Destination in New Europe: A Sofia Deep Dive
Photo Caption: The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with only a handful of travelers visiting on a gorgeous Saturday in July, stands powerfully as a symbol of Bulgaria’s vitality, hundreds of centuries in the making. Rebecca Stone
Skift Take
While destinations with overtourism issues are getting a lot of attention, other cities are emerging as new frontiers for tourism. Sofia, Bulgaria, is one of those cities with a unique opportunity to declare to the world what it wants to be as a destination, and to define a vision and strategy for how tourism can develop sustainably.
I’d be lying if I said I knew much of anything about Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria located in the western part of the Balkan country, before a few weeks ago.
When I found out I was going to be heading there, I admit I embarrassingly went straight to Google Maps to figure out exactly where it was in Europe.
After some research, I had a basic, black and white image in my head. North of Greece. Has a border on the Black Sea. Allied with the Axis powers during World War II. Under a Communist regime until 1989. Got it.
However, upon arriving to Sofia, that image was suddenly no longer black and white.
Gorgeous, whitewashed governmental offices built during the Communist regime stood formidably before me speaking to a history of which I knew very little. Countless brand-new boutique shops, outdoor beer gardens, and trendy, hipster restaurants made up almost the entire ground floor of the city, juxtaposing the grungy, grimy buildings in which they were housed. Locals with sombe
