News

During the new winter season in Bansko ski area there will be two brand new four-seat lifts at guests’s disposal. One of them connects “Banderishka polyana” place with the last fall of “Todorka” ski run which will facilitate at maximum the ski- and snowboard beginners. The second one begins from the “Zhelezen most” place and reaches the “Platoto” area.

Berkovitsa municipality and Glavbolgarstroy would work on a new sports and tourism centre in Berkovitsa and under Kom peak in Stara Planina Mountain.

The centre should be completed by 2016, Darik Radio said.

Berkovitsa municipality will participate in the project providing 75 000 sq m of land. Glavbolgarstroy will invest funds and will possess 51 per cent of the project.

The dream customers of every hotel owner in the world — Japanese tourists — are flocking to Veliko Turnovo.

This finding was made at the second anniversary of the National Association of Spa and Wellness Tourism (NSAWT) held in Veliko Turnovo this week. Addressing participants in the event, Veliko Turnovo mayor Roumen Rashev said: “In the past several months, our city has been enjoying a real invasion of Japanese tourists”.

One of the reasons for that influx might be the immense popularity of Bulgaria’s Kaloyan Mahlyanov, known as Kotooshu in Japan. Mahlyanov is one of the top sumo wrestling stars in Japan, where he is a beloved star of the sport. “Japanese tourists want to see the motherland of Kotooshu and Veliko Turnovo has become their top destination in Bulgaria,” Rashev said. “Next in line were British and US tourists who usually visit Veliko Turnovo as part of their European tours.”

In addition, Rashev forecasted a 30 per cent increase in the number of tourists visiting the city by the end of the year. In the first nine months of 2006, the number of tourists had increased with 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2005, he said. Veliko Turnovo has developed into one of the leading destinations for foreign tourists for a few simple reasons. First, the city is one of the medieval centres of Bulgaria, featuring the magnificent and outstanding Tsarevets fortress complex.

Bulgaria will take part in an International Tourism Fair opening Monday in London, RIA Novosti reported.

This is the 27th edition of the fair and it will go on until November 9. It is expected that it will be the biggest event in world tourism business.

Over 5,000 participants from about 200 countries will attend the forum.

Bulgaria will deliver a special presentation followed by Sri Lanka, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and a number of other countries

Two Italian companies are going to supply gas western Bulgaria, comprising the larger part of Vrac, Bansko, Goce Delcev etc as this was recently decided by the State commission for energy and water management (DKEVR), energyobserver.com reports.

The joint association of the “Acegaz” and “Konstrukcioni Dondi” companies was declared the winner in the competition for gas distribution in the “Zapad” region.
In the second place were Italian company “AMGA- Acienda Multiserizi” followed by Austrian firm EVN and Bulgarian “Overgaz Inc”.

The CEZ company is planning to invest BGN 2.2 Million in energy distribution network in Bansko mountain resort, the company reports. In the next year CEZ will invest BGN 1.3 million in reconstruction and modernization of the equipment in Bansko. BGN 518,00 will be spent for the construction of three key energy distribution stations. These investments of the company will be continuation of the program for development of the network in the region.

The largest shopping and entertainment centre Mall of Sofia has turned also into a silent witness of love offering space for a weekend wedding ceremony.

Happy newly weds Milena Ivanova and Petko Georgiev chose the shelter of the mall to tie the knot and speak out oath of love and fidelity.

The marketing management of Mall of Sofia evoked the pleased surprise of the young family by donating them a honey-weekend in Bansko.

Mall of Sofia opened doors in early June amid hectic interest by hundreds of thousands. In their first weekend alone, the Mall's boutiques, restaurants, cafes and various other services attracted 135,000.

Bulgaria will join the European Union on Jan 1, 2007, and is on the verge of becoming the Riviera on the Balkans. The improved economic conditions, political and social stability in Bulgaria over the last 3 years have culminated in a real boom of the prices of property in Bulgaria.

Other important factor for the rising property market is the huge tourism potential in the country. Incredibly, Bulgaria is now the third most popular holiday destination after Spain and France for British holidaymakers.

Bookings for New Year at Bulgaria's best winter resorts are already unavailable, local tour operators informed.

There is no bedspace vacant in Bansko, Pamporovo, Borovets, Hissar or Sandanski two months ahead of Christmas, they said as quoted by Standard Daily.

It seems the spa pearl of Bulgaria Sandanski will speak out Greek on New Year Eve, as the majority of bookings have been made by citizens of the southern neighbour, reports said.

Unlikely, many Bulgarians will prefer to leave for an exotic destination, such as Tunisia and Egypt, to chin-chin their first EU-membership year, the newspaper pointed out.

Accession to the European Union is inevitably going to play a central role in the future of property investment in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian property is already proving popular with investors looking for long-term capital growth, but there is no doubt that accession to the EU will encourage many more to purchase properties in the country with a view to capitalising on the extensive house price growth that will presumably ensue.

The road to EU membership has certainly been a bumpy one for Bulgaria and reports on its progress have let officials know that there is still some work to do.

Despite this, financial experts in the country are seemingly confident that everything is on track to join on January 1st next year. The implications for property investment could be immense.

Speaking to the Sofia News Agency, Mr Maxim Behar, head of the Bulgarian Business Leader Forum, said: "I am even more optimistic than before. I am sure that we are going to join the EU on January 1st 2007. The tone of the monitoring report is very positive."