Every single day, while travelling to the office, I planned how one day I would create my own business.
Kristian IVANOV
I use every free minute to improve myself! This has become the motto of one of the young entrepreneurs in tourism – Boris Karageorgiev from “Mistral Travel”.
“I always knew I would be an entrepreneur,” says Boris. “It’s ingrained in me. It energises me to draw up plans and achieve my goals.”
Even as a student, the future businessman understood that he possessed the ability to work with people and organise. The first event he undertook was a school disco for his classmates from the French Lyceum in Sofia.
“I was 16 years old and organised a party for my classmates. It started at 5 pm and finished at 9 pm because we were all minors,” Boris recalls with a smile. “Even then, I felt I had a calling to be an organiser. This is a common trait in my family.”
Boris focused on languages during his school years, graduating successfully from the French Lyceum. At the same time, he also studied English.
His parents planned for their son to continue his education abroad, but events unfolded differently.
“At that time, I was seriously training in volleyball. Pursuing this sport was part of my plans,” shares Boris. “My father Georgi was a volleyball player for many years. I myself was part of CSKA. And the family connection with tourism comes from my mother Snezhina. Together with her colleagues, she created the first company ‘Mistral’, mainly involved in organising bus tours.”
For Boris, his first job after coming of age was in a call centre for customer service of a foreign company. This was an opportunity to practice the languages he had learned, but the young man knew that this was just a step towards the path he would take in the future.
“Every single day, while travelling to the office, I dreamed of how one day I would create my own business,” says Boris. “I believed that I would achieve my dream of working for myself.”
At the age of 19, Karageorgiev left the call centre and plunged into his old passion – organising events. He worked with some of the most popular nightclubs in Student City. Just a year later, with a partner, he had already created his first company in the film industry – a casting agency. The company deals with the selection of people who participate in the filming of movies and mass events.
“A turning point in my life was a student holiday – 8 December in Bansko. I was 20 years old,” recalls Boris Karageorgiev. “I took stock. Then I listened to the advice of my loved ones and created my company with the brand ‘Mistral Travel & Events’.”
I started doing something completely new – a different approach to marketing, a new website, new social media. I was simultaneously involved in organising events, the casting agency, and “Mistral Travel”.
Success knocked on Boris’s door, but soon came great trials. The restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic completely changed the rules of the game. Redundancies were necessary, and the casting agency was closed. There were times when everything was a matter of survival. But Boris’s family rallied even more and managed to overcome the crisis.
When the world slowly shook off the nightmare of the pandemic, Boris Karageorgiev became a co-owner and turned “Mistral Travel” into a completely family-run company. Boris was 26 years old when he organised his first charter flight to Egypt. Appetite comes with eating, and an even bigger challenge followed. Karageorgiev participated in a project for a charter flight from Sofia to the Dominican Republic with 260 people on board.
The business gradually revived, and more staff were hired. Boris continued to be involved in event management but also created a medical brand – MedicoCongress, which focuses on organising symposia and congresses. “Mistral” expanded into various sectors, and Karageorgiev’s company became one of the established ones in the industry. Besides everything else, Boris also continued his academic education.
“I am now a doctoral student in tourism at UNWE, an opportunity for which I am very grateful to Prof. Mariana Yaneva,” admits Boris Karageorgiev. “I am happy. This gives me a chance to communicate with young people. Moreover, it is a way for me to continue to develop myself. In our department, we organise round tables with people from the business. The idea is to show that when a young person has the desire and ambition, they can achieve a lot. For me, the feeling of tension keeps me alive. That’s how I feel the game of life. I love to face challenges and solve them. I realised that every person can achieve much more than they think they are capable of. All that is needed is to mobilise. This is what I am trying to do with ‘Mistral Travel’.”
What are the best offers from the travel company now?
“Our development is related to offering customers the opportunity for entertainment, sports, and tourism during their travels,” says Boris Karageorgiev. “We are organising one such event in Halkidiki, Greece. We know well that outside of their busy daily lives, everyone needs to relax. This is exactly what we want to give to the tourists who choose us. In Halkidiki, we provide entertainment for young people. We have made sure that children have their own beautiful experience, but we have also thought about adults – that they can go to a party in a nice nightclub, for example.”
This year, we sent the first charter to the Canary Islands, landing in Gran Canaria. It’s different there compared to Tenerife, where many Bulgarians have already been. At “Mistral Travel”, we love challenges, we love to take risks and experiment.”
Boris admits that outside of his professional commitments, he has little time for personal life.
“Everyone chooses for themselves what they want from life,” says the entrepreneur. “For myself, I know that I want to continue in the direction I have already taken. I grew up in a normal family; my parents did not have the opportunity to provide me with a car or an apartment. I had to take care of all this myself, and now I can’t sit down and say to myself, ‘Stop, rest a little.’ I use every free minute to improve myself. I read, I learn new things about business. I look for new opportunities for development. Most people don’t understand how much work you have to do before success comes. I have fulfilled my dream of being an entrepreneur, and it gives me a sense of freedom.”
How does Boris see himself in 10 years?
“I hope to be alive and well and to have a family,” says Boris Karageorgiev. “To be able to look back and say that I wouldn’t trade what I have for anything in the world. Life is a cycle, and it is very important to remain human, no matter what happens. I would like to be able to continue helping young people. It’s true that we live in a very fast-paced world, but we should always find time to be human.”
