NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE NATURE PARK “SHUMENSKO PLATO”.

The Nature Park Shumen Plateau is a protected area with the highest degree of genuineness and uniqueness. Typical for the region is the successful ecotourism development, which favors the local traditions and customs and follows the principles of sustainable development by facilitating the preservation of natural and cultural resources, biological and landscape diversity. The article examines the new opportunities for ecotourism by providing services that meet the modern needs of the tourists in an environmentally friendly way, support the community progress and shape the specialization of the regional tourist product by 2020. Furthermore, the article presents the trends and changes in the specialized types of ecotourism in relation to the landscape theory of geoecological protection, sustainable tourism and regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]