Mariya Stankova

Nowadays tourism is one of the few branches which creates jobs in the big Bulgarian cities and big tourist centers as in the rural and mountain areas, providing variety of opportunities for over fifty kinds of specialists from different ages. In those frames, the aim of this paper is to unveil, analyze and evaluate the possibilities for enhancing its competitiveness at destination level trough a sustainable planning model. The object of study is the competitiveness of tourism destination Bulgaria according to The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index. We have combined the expert method and the method of observation, applicable for the analysis of competitiveness, as well as the adopted Index methodology. Moreover, together with its comprehension, the paper suggests a model for sustainable planning and development for the surveyed tourism destination.