The Bulgarian tourist union announced that 350 000 people have purchased books for the 100 national tourism sites and are traveling actively across Bulgaria since 2003. The organization is already preparing for the annual awards for the most active travelers.

Bulgarians aren’t the only ones eager to see all beautiful places in the country – many foreigners are also following the advice of the Bulgarian writer Aleko Konstantinov to “get to know Bulgaria in order to love it”.

The initiative for the hundred notable sites is known to several generations of Bulgarians. It was restored in 2003 by the ex-minister of sport Vasil Luchano, and now hundreds of people of all ages are collecting stamps in their booklets.

For visiting 25 notable sites, and respectively receiving 25 stamps, the tourist gets a bronze pin. The Bulgarian tourist union has already given out nearly 6500 such awards. When a tourist visits half of these sites, he receives a silver pin. A little over 3500 people own such pins. There are already people with golden pins – visitors of all major sites in Bulgaria. They are currently 480. Every year the tourists also participate in a lottery for awards like tourist equipment, vacation tickets, etc.

Foreigners from Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Japan also have golden pins. Last year, the ex-ambassador of Vietnam Fam Quok Bao received the honorary golden pin.