Over 50 representatives from the tourism industry (Tourism Council, restaurateurs, tour operators, tour guides, etc.), regional chitalishte (typical Bulgarian public institutions that performs educationalactivities) and informal groups of Plovdiv, Stara Zhelezare Belashtitsa, Hrabrino, Markovo and other national and local coordinators of the movement Slow Food in Bulgaria, mayors, NGOs and media discussed on December 1, 2018 in the Green Workshop in Plovdiv the Concept of a Tourist Route for Slow Green and Healthy Tourism. The event was organized by EDA with BCS for SMEs (Regional Development Agency with Business Support Center for SMEs - Plovdiv) as a part of the project "INSiGHTS - Integrated Strategies for Slow, Green and Healthy Tourism"

"Business is an ecosystem. It is a symbiosis where the most diverse companies are most likely to survive and thrive, creating partnerships with other companies, customers and even competitors. This is especially true for the tourism sector. And as a tourist route is a complex product with many "players", the rupture of this symbiosis leads eventually to offer poor quality final product, "- said Velizar Petrov, Executive of RDA with BCS for SMEs – Plovdiv. "Any one of you present at our meeting can find its place in this common tourist product “– said he.

"Today we have gathered as followers working to promote the slow-food movement as an alternative to unhealthy lifestyles and fast food. A slow diet is an integral part of slow, green and healthy tourism." - said Gergana Kabaivanova, regional coordinator of the Slow Diet Movement. "We have chosen this date because it is the beginning of the Earth Day celebration (Terra Madre Day) – she said.

With interesting international examples, we were introduced by Desislava Dimitrova, national coordinator of the movement for Bulgaria.

The meeting ended with gastrofest and informal meetings between participants.