The College of Tourism- Varna, part of the University of Economics – Varna (a partner of the CulturalBees project), has a long tradition of inspiring and helping students think outside the box and present their vision for the future of tourism. The main inspiration is to promote entrepreneurial skills among young people between the ages of 18 to 30 in fields related to cultural and creative industries (CCI).
The University of Varna is part of the EU-funded project CulturalBees from 2024. The team members have participated in various activities related to the implementation and the development of the project. They include the Kick-Off Meeting in Larnaca in February 2024, Survey among participants in the National Forum and representatives of CCI, National Executive Summary from the forum, Ecosystem Forum Summary Report.
On March 1, 2024, JA Bulgaria hosted the first National Ecosystem Forum at the Regional Center for Contemporary Arts “Toplocentrala” gathering students, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, NGOs. Members of the University of Economics team were also a part of this significant event. The participants attended workshops for developing training programs for entrepreneurs in CCI. Moreover, the facilitators presented the national outcomes and the key achievements of the Cultural Bees project in the partner countries.
The College of Tourism- Varna has organized numerous creative workshops for the past several years. The initiative is a part of the program “Youth Activities” organized by the Directorate “Education and Youth Activities” of the Municipality of Varna.
The project consists of several stages. First, the students choose their topics and work with a scholar from the establishment to refine their vision. After that, they present their ideas to specialists from CCI (cultural and creative industries) and tourism. They include hotel and restaurant managers, Human resource and marketing professionals, Directors and curators of museums and other cultural heritage sites. The students share their ideas in front of the experts and receive in-depth feedback. Following this stage, a mentor from the experts is assigned to each student or student team. They work with the specialist to further develop their project and broaden their skills. The last step consists of a business plan presentation before a panel of judges who rank the projects and give three prizes for first, second, and third place. Each participant is awarded a certificate and the winners receive a monetary award.
This year (2024) the wining topics are:
- The cultural heritage of the Czechs in Bulgaria – An idea for a tour operator product for attracting more Czech tourists during the low season in Varna;
- Conceptualization of a children’s summer camp in reconstructed bungalows in historic Kamchia;
- Restaurant on wheels – A city tour with a bus equipped with a restaurant on board that serves local traditional dishes.
After the initial stage, the young entrepreneurs work with their mentors. The final was held at the end of October.
Every year, the students present exciting and innovative ideas for businesses or products they want to develop independently. Sometimes, they lack the needed skill set. The collaboration between the University, the Business organizations, and the Municipality provides them with a unique way to learn.
Supporting people aged between 15 and 30 years in acquiring the necessary knowledge and tools to build a successful career in the sector of CCI is also an integral part of the Cultural Bees project, of which the University of Economics-Varna is a partner. The project is entering a new important phase – developing educational materials for young entrepreneurs. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to carry out large-scale pilot testing of the developed methodology among 1,000 students in three European countries: Cyprus, Bulgaria and Italy.
