Geopolitics and tourism in the COVID-19 pandemic (the case of Bulgaria)

Tourism is a complex socio-economic system. Today, the tourism industry is in a crisis caused by a global factor external to the industry - the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, the overall socio-economic development of the country, incl. and tourism is influenced by four key factors: the geopolitics of the EU structures, the policies of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and national tourism policy. In this regard, the study is focused on the situational development of the modern tourism space in Bulgaria, and namely on the factors affecting the state of the industry. The analysis carried out by the authors shows that, 1) the predominance of a unipolar geopolitical structure has a significant impact (not always positive) on the state of economic sectors, incl. the tourism sector; 2) the cyclical nature of the economic development of one group of states does not coincide with the cyclical nature of another group, which leads to a redistribution of financial, commodity, incl. tourist, flows; 3) the aggravated interstate and intersystem contradictions do not contribute to the sustainable development of economic sectors and, especially, tourism; 4) the processes of European integration of states are not irreversible; 5) tourism in the context of the pandemic is undergoing a process of transformation under the influence of health and socio-economic development policies, and in this regard, the tourism image of Bulgaria is suffering due to the departure of major international tour operators, incl. Russian, and at the same time the passive national policy of the Ministry of Tourism, which, instead of looking for new opportunities in terms of supply and demand, focuses on the survival of business; 6) the positive moments in Bulgarian tourism: the activation of domestic tourism and the formation of new models of behavior of consumers and producers.