Bulgaria: Creating a Positive First Impression

Novinite is publishing for the first time the first impressions of Thomas Tait, a former Chief Executive of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who visited Bulgaria in the 1990s and today calls the country his "second home". 

During the past twenty-eight years, Tait has put to practice his extensive knowledge of tourism development in eighty cities in forty-three nations.

He performs as an C-level tourism expert for the US State Department, has written two novels and a screen play set in Eastern Europe during the 19th Century and is the Chairman of the Outside Las Vegas Foundation, to which he has provided guidance for the past fourteen years.

I am neither an accidental tourist nor an accident prone traveler. Early in my journeys to foreign nations, I realized there were practical safeguards I had to take to guarantee long life, serviceable limbs and an intact wallet. As a result, I haven't taken many chances; neither have I placed myself in harm's way. While my eldest daughter is fearless - I am more introspective, embracing sage caution when unusual conditions arise.

Life in the United States differs from life in Eastern Europe, and the differences did not make for polite conversation. America, held up as a decadent land, filled with conspicuous consumers by a Soviet population subjected to decades-long totalitarian rule. 'Do not emulate the American way of life,' they decried. Similarly, US news agencies pictured Soviet citizens as tired, frumpy and sad. That same media sent us images of a population who more often than not donned thick coats and fur hats. Men and women snaked through long lines in frigid weather to collect a measured quota of bread, meat, milk and cheese. Because of our basic...