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Pendara – building the future of rural & gastronomic experiences in Bulgaria
Pendara is a platform ecosystem connecting rural hosts, culinary heritage and modern travelers, unlocking new economic opportunities for local communities.
Why Pendara Matters
Preserve culinary heritage
Empower rural communities
Create new tourism formats
Connect local culture with global travelers
Unlock the tourism potential of rural regions
Support small local food and tourism businesses
Food engineer • Gastronomy researcher • Tourism innovator
Gergana Kabaivanova began her journey not as a business idea, but as a personal search for better food for her family. What started as a simple concern gradually turned into a deeper curiosity about how food is produced, who grows it, and what happens to the knowledge carried through local traditions.
This curiosity led her into the field. In the early years she became involved in the development of some of the first farmers’ markets in Bulgaria, working closely with small producers and local communities. Through this work she gained first-hand insight into the realities of small food businesses – from regulatory barriers and food safety requirements to the difficulty of reaching modern consumers.
Over time her work expanded beyond community initiatives into professional training and advisory activities. She began developing educational programs focused on food safety, gastronomic experience design, entrepreneurship, and the development of small food and tourism businesses.
Alongside this work, she joined an expert working group collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on regulatory frameworks for farm, artisanal, and homemade food production in Bulgaria. This experience deepened her understanding of the institutional environment shaping small producers and rural economies.
Years of working directly with producers, communities, and institutions gradually revealed a broader opportunity: the potential of gastronomy and local culture to become a powerful driver of experience-based tourism and regional development.
This insight led to the creation of Pendara – a model that connects local hosts, culinary heritage, and modern travelers. By combining grassroots knowledge with digital infrastructure, Pendara seeks to unlock the economic and cultural potential of rural destinations.
Today Gergana’s work focuses on building Pendara as a bridge between heritage, entrepreneurship, and the experience economy, positioning gastronomy as a strategic asset for destination development.
Experience.Pendara.bg is a digital platform designed to connect travelers with authentic rural and gastronomic experiences across Bulgaria and the Balkans.
Through the platform, visitors can discover and book curated experiences hosted by local communities — from culinary workshops and farm visits to cultural activities and encounters with small-scale producers.
Pendara operates through a hybrid marketplace model that lowers the barrier for small hosts to participate in tourism. Travelers reserve their experience online, while the main payment is made directly to the host on site. Pendara collects a transparent platform service fee that sustains the digital infrastructure while keeping the model accessible for local businesses.
By combining technology, local knowledge, and experience-based tourism, Pendara aims to unlock the economic potential of rural regions and create a scalable network of authentic experiences across Southeast Europe.
Pendara Academy is an educational platform designed to support small food businesses, rural hosts, and culinary entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools needed to grow in a modern food and tourism environment.
The Academy focuses on practical training and applied expertise in key areas such as food safety and HACCP systems, food entrepreneurship, rural tourism development, and digital marketing for small food businesses.
Its programs are tailored primarily for micro food producers, rural hosts, and small hospitality businesses, helping them navigate regulations, improve their operations, and develop sustainable tourism and food-based experiences.
America for Bulgaria Foundation
Pendara received its first institutional support from the America for Bulgaria Foundation, whose programs for cultural heritage, entrepreneurship, and regional development have helped create new opportunities for local initiatives across the country.
This early support played an important role in enabling the first projects and community work that later evolved into the Pendara ecosystem.
Maria Jecova
Among them is Maria Jecova – author, MasterChef Bulgaria 2021, television host, and one of the most recognizable advocates of Bulgarian culinary traditions and village culture. Through her work and collaboration with Pendara initiatives, she has helped amplify the message that local food, rural knowledge, and community life are powerful cultural assets worth preserving and sharing.
Press & Media
