Bulgaria has one of the most successful tourism industries in Central and Eastern Europe, but the residues of Communist ideologies and practice are still apparent and present a handicap to those organizations which wish to compete for increasingly demanding global tourism clients. Drawing on findings from a comparative postal survey and follow-up interviews with hotel general managers in Bulgaria and U.K., current employment practices and management styles in the Bulgarian hotel industry are evaluated. The authors consider the extent to which Bulgarian managers appear likely to adopt current Western ideas about staff development and empowerment in the new economic circumstances of the developing market economy. It is concluded that culturally entrenched custom and practice presents formidable obstacles to change, but that the transition to privatization, sensitively handled, could provide the catharsis required to enable the industry to move into new markets.