Contrary to the sense of doom surrounding the economic crisis and the vexed business outlook for the coming year, the tourist sector, or hotel business in particular, made great strides last year.

Across Bulgaria there are currently 3217 hotels, hostels and lodgings, according to recent data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI). These establishments offer a total of 130 000 rooms and suites, Stroitelstvo Gradut reports.

These figures represent a substantial 7.3 per cent growth over 2007. Most of the newly built hotels are on the Black Sea coast. Bourgas tops the list with 873 new establishments, followed by Varna with 528, Smolyan with 287 and Plovdiv, Bulgaria's secong largest city, with 226.

Even the quiet northern town of Pleven has seen 12 new establishments emerge in the last 12 months whereas Razgrad has accounted for 16. Perhaps most surprisingly the not-so touristic destination of the industrial/mining town of Pernik has seen 19 new hotels.

Overall, 43 per cent of new construction is by the seaside. For 2008, according to the NSI, the total number of beds reached 18.2 million, an increase of 215 000 on 2007.

In terms of business, this sends a positive message in spite of the economic crisis and the number companies filing for Government financial assistance. It appears that hotel business in the country is healthy. Revenue in the tourist sector increased by 8.4 per cent in 2008, reaching 741 million leva. The NSI is quick to note, however, that the aforementioned figures only represent the official side of the business, implying that last year's actual growth in the sector was even higher.