Bulgaria and China have decided to sign an agreement aimed at increasing the flow of Chinese tourists to the southeast European country, the Tourism Ministry in Sofia said on Monday.

Setting up a Bulgarian-Chinese Tourism Chamber and offering joint package tours with neighbouring Romania, Serbia, Greece and Turkey to Chinese visitors also were on the agenda of talks between Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova and a delegation led by the Chairman of The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Li Jinzao.

Sending tourists to Bulgaria under various Chinese social programmes was also discussed in the talks between the two sides, the ministry said in a statement, adding the southeast European country has sound traditions in spa and recreational tourism.

The Tourism Ministry is preparing to invite leading Chinese media and tour operators to Bulgaria to show its offer of tourism products, Angelkova said.

Li Jinzao said that providing information in Chinese at Bulgaria’s main tourist sites, improving transport infrastructure and offering Chinese dishes in restaurants will help attract more Chinese tourists.

According to the CNTA head, offering packages combining spa, cultural tourism and winter sports will be highly appealing to potential visitors from China.

Some 16,000 Chinese visited Bulgaria last year, an increase of 30% over 2013. About 14,000 of them were tourists.