Challenges for regional development and employment in tourism industry: The case of Bulgaria

Tourism plays an important role in Europe, and specifically in Bulgaria, and it makes a considerable contribution to employment and regional development. Usually, tourism is among the sectors which are used for introduction and application of different government measures and initiatives which aim at increase of employment. In spite of the commitment of public institutions in Bulgaria to stimulate tourism, as a form of sustainable development, employment and other economic activities, we still find strong disproportions in infra- and super-structure with tourism development being highly concentrated on the Black sea coast. The aim of this paper was to define the main challenges for regional employment with respect to the specifics of the labor market requirements for new skills and competences, and bridging of the gap between the educational curricula and market demand.