An interview by Daniela Ilieva with Kremena Domova – Zornitsa Sands Hotel Manager 

Could you introduce yourself in a few words - education, additional qualifications, professional experience, personal interests?
Hello, my name is Kremena Dimova and I am the manager of the Zornitsa Sands Hotel. I finished my secondary education in the then-Austrian class of the Commercial High School in Burgas,

Bachelor's degree - at the University of Economics - Varna and Master's degree "In Tourism Management" at "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" University. I have completed various courses such as Labor and Wages, personnel, restaurant, and chef course, crisis response course at Harvard University, and others. I held a variety of positions such as cashier, sales consultant, animator, receptionist, manager of the "Apartment Owners" office in one of the best hotels on the Black Sea coast, etc.

Regarding personal interests - for the last 6 months my attention has been focused entirely on sports and personal growth - after a 15-year pause, I finally returned to the dojo - resumed jujitsu training with the best trainer for the past year - Sensei Venilin Rusinov in  Central Police Karate and Ju Jitsu Club Burgas. Huge thanks to him, to senpai Pavel Dimitrov, who was nominated as “Person of the year” for 2018, for his work with children, as well as to the other coaches at the club. In addition, I practice yoga and read books, articles, and lectures at every opportunity. I recently started writing motivational posts.

You have been the manager of "Zornitsa Sands" for years. What are the biggest challenges in your work?
I have been the manager of the Zornitsa Sands hotel for 5 years now. This will be my sixth summer season in a row. I have been working in the field of tourism for almost 17 years. The biggest challenges in our work, I would say, are the wrong vision that has been built for tourism as an industry, for Bulgaria as a tourist destination, the lack of adequate training of personnel in tourism, the disunity of those working in this sphere, the noticeably growing lack of personnel, caused by the reasons already listed, plus the bad attitude of many employers towards their employees and many others.

We have a huge potential to be one of the most preferred tourist destinations and to develop this business sector – Bulgaria has sea, mountains, eco-trails, historical sights, unique nature, caves... but the lack of unity, active participation of the state and several other challenges prevent us from taking advantage of the country’s unique endowments.

To what target group of tourists is the complex primarily oriented and what is the hotel's policy for attracting them?
We have always focused primarily on the Bulgarian market. It is a real pride for us that every year a huge percentage of our guests are Bulgarians and that they choose to spend their vacation on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast instead of Turkey or Greece. We are grateful to all our regular guests who have been visiting us for 10-11 years and say that they feel at home with us. Other than that, we have guests from various countries - Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the USA, China, and Ukraine. Since this year, we are stepping very strongly into the French (Club Coralia) and the English market (Jet2Holidays), thanks to our partners from MTS and IDS Bulgaria.

We mainly host families, couples of different ages, representatives of various professions who are looking for peace and relaxation, as well as business representatives who have chosen a different atmosphere for holding a business meeting, team building, or any other type of event. Our conference hall, with a capacity of 65 people, provides an excellent opportunity to hold seminars and training in a luxurious and professional environment. Many of our new visitors find out about us from acquaintances who were satisfied with their stay, from our partners from various tour operator companies, and online platforms, as well as from our participation in various tourist exhibitions in Turkey, Romania, Germany, and others.

What are the competitive advantages of "Zornitsa Sands"? What makes the complex unique - location, interior, service, additional attractions and services, atmosphere...?
Many factors make Zornitsa Sands Hotel unique and it would be difficult for me to list them without leaving something out. First - the unique location - right on the seashore, away from the noise, but at the same time short enough to reach by bus or car, between the mountains and the sea, a few kilometers from Cape Emine, which is visible from some of our junior suites located in Kozluka area and near Robinson beach. In second place – the unique architecture. As far as I know, there are only 1 or 2 other hotels that are designed to offer sea views from every one of the 244 rooms. The interior has been selected with great taste and attention to detail and is an extremely precise ratio of coziness and luxury, to create a truly unique atmosphere which, in combination with the different aromas that can be felt in every part of the hotel, makes guests immerse themselves in the magic that is the Zornitsa Sands Hotel and forget the problems of everyday life, at least for a few days. Our great staff also contributes to this - the heads of the various departments - exceptional professionals who tirelessly pour their souls into their work, into creating and leading their teams, the wonderful people, who year after year give their all to provide the best range of services to our guests, the surprisingly loyal and purposeful young people who become part of our team every year... that is who we are!

Thanks to all of the above and many more small and large details, a lot of hard work and love, Zornitsa Sands Hotel offers something for everyone - delicious food, great animation for young and old children, sunbeds and umbrellas on the beach and around the pool, parking, safe, bathrobes and slippers, hair salon, fitness center, yoga, water gymnastics, street fitness, volleyball court, darts, billiards, spa center with a huge range of procedures - from Turkish bath, massages, sauna, jacuzzi, to various procedures for the face, microblading, and from this year we have great pleasure, together with the specialists from Derma PRO, to offer a detox weekend and a wide selection of facial and body treatments.

Your wish for the readers of Business Lady?
I wish all readers above all health. I wish them to find happiness within themselves, to be a little better, to do good to someone without expecting anything in return, to smile more, and to enjoy each new day and the wonderful things that life offers. Sometimes we forget to be happy and thankful for the people in our lives, for the lessons, for the teachers, for our parents, and for the kindness and love that we receive. Smile and if you haven't been our guest yet - I wish you to correct this mistake as soon as possible.