GEOPOLITICS OF TOURISM: CONCENTRATION OF INFLUENCE AND DEPENDENCE IN BULGARIA
The article is about the idea that views tourism as a tool of geopolitics in terms of its use to achieve power and influence on space. The key factors are outlined which determine the exerted power by tourism (soft and hard) along with the leading factors which appear to be its protagonists. Geopolitical nature of tourism is presented on the example of Bulgaria, which is currently positioned on the map of international tourism as an explicit object of its impact.The methodology of this article is based on the geopolitical approach using comparative and balance methods. The actual influence of Bulgaria as a tourist destination is analyzed for the past socialist period as well as for the current period. The focus of the research is on the destination’s ability / deficit to achieve geopolitical power on international level.The author comes to the conclusion that Bulgaria is heavily dominated by the geopolitical impact of tourism stemming from the part of established tour operators in the sector and this dependence is consequently growing. In direct economic terms this geopolitical influence is expressed by neo-colonial features and it assigns the destination status of a tourist peripheral appendage of the developed world. In socio-cultural aspect the external influence which is absorbed by Bulgaria through tourism activities along with strong pressure from the competitive environment makes the image of its tourist attractiveness too much unstable. This permanently limits the ability of Bulgaria to profitably position itself on the international tourist market.