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The Black Sea coastline has long been a favourite place for people to take their holidays and as the countries bordering the Black Sea open up to western ideas, so ambitions are beginning to grow. There is word from Bulgaria that the city of Kavarna is planning to invest in a Formula 1 standard racing circuit to help boost tourism in its region. Tourist numbers in the region are still low and the majority of them are still Bulgarians but Kavarna has ambition to be Bulgaria's version of Monte Carlo.

On August 24, an international real estate compamy published the first market overview of the Bulgarian holiday homes market. The report documents significant developments in recent years in both mountain and coastal resort areas.The holiday homes market in Bulgaria experienced significant development in the past year in these areas.Demand for holiday homes in the country has taken off in recent years. The upcoming EU accession, the growth of the tourism industry, and the comparatively low prices are among the main factors driving demand.

Sofia - Bulgaria has all that tourists may crave - seacoast, ski slopes, old cities and villages, palaces, museums and abundant history - but it has no roads to take them places with reasonable speed and comfort.
'Driving through Bulgaria is very difficult,' says Nikolaj, 55, who recently travelled across the country north-to-south, from Veliko Tarnovo to the spa Velingrad.
The 400-kilometre trip took him through mountains, which range across the entire country east-to-west. With no tunnels to straighten and flatten the course, it takes hours of crawling behind trucks before the three passes and bottlenecks are cleared.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) approved the concession of the coastal airports in Varna and Bourgas.CPC approved the selection of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management as the concession winner, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.

Seemingly unaware of the summer heat, Bulgaria’s developers are preparing for a strong winter season. Bulgarian company Prima Invest BG has started the construction of a 15-million euro ski resort in Rila Mountain, which could take four years to complete, a local municipal official said. The Kartala ski resort will target not only locals but also tourists from the European Union and neighbouring countries Greece and Macedonia, Blagoevgrad deputy mayor Georgi Milev said. Construction of ski resorts in Bulgaria, where the tourism industry is a major driving force for the economy, is set to rapidly develop over the next years. Currently, only 15 per cent of the country’s annual tourism revenue comes from winter resorts.
 

A retro tram transports Sofia's citizens to mark World Tourism Day on September 27.Sofia's deputy mayor Tzvetan Tzvetanov and the representative of the State Tourism Agency Mario al-Jeburi presented the route for the tourist tram trip on a central tram juncture in the capital.

Icelandic tourists have been discovering Bulgaria as a favourite tourism destination this year, according to data by the state Tourism Authority.
Along with Iceland, steady rise in the interest to spend the holidays in Bulgaria has been found with tourist from Ireland and Romania.

A total of 3 716 193 foreigners visited Bulgaria from January to September 2006, State Agency for Tourism head Mario al-Djebouri said.
The figures were 5.8 per cent higher the percentages for the same period last year, he said.

One out of three owners of restaurants and retail outlets along Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast plans to accept bank card payments.
The figures come from a Visa International survey among 200 owners of restaurants and shops in the seaside resort towns of Sozopol, Primorsko and Kiten.

Bulgaria’s non-governmental tourism organisations insist that the sector be monitored by a ministry, instead of the currently existing State Agency on Tourism.
This was said on September 14 at a news conference by the heads of the National Board of Tourism, the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents, the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, the Bulgarian Tourist Chamber and other organisations.