On 22th  October, 2009 during the tourism torum in Sofia were discussed the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Greece. The event was organized by the Prefecture, "Xanthi, Greece. The official guests, Mr. Georgios Pavlidis, Prefect of Xanthi, Mr. Tsvetan  Tsvetanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Mr, Ivo Marinov - Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Mr. Stefan Staykov - regional Governor of Region Smolyan and Mr. Stoyan Lazarov - Director “Tourism development” at the Sofia Municipality, held a discussion with the participating in the forum representatives of tourist organizations and agencies to identify opportunities for partnerships in the field of tourist services.
The event defied a great interest and unified the efforts of over 100 specialists from the tourism sector to improve the industry in the country. In the agenda of the Forum, except the statements of official guests and the general panel discussion with questions and answers, were provided a presentation on the region of Xanthi, which helped to the Bulgarian participants to acquaint each other with the possibilities of establishing bilateral partnerships with Greece in the public and private sector.