Now the Christmas and New Years holidays are over, tourist prices in the Bulgarian winter resorts have fallen. On January 1 prices fell by between 10 and 20 per cent. Some of the hoteliers are now offering holiday packages for about half of the price they were charging during Christmas week.

According to Bulgarian-language daily Standart, the most expensive holidays were being offered in Borovets, the largest winter resort in the Rila Mountain. The second most expensive holidays were in Bansko, followed by Pamporovo, the former biggest resort in the Balkan Peninsula. According to tour operators, holidays in Chepelare in the Rhodope Mountains were comparatively more affordable.

Bansko was the biggest hit with skiers, again. The opening ceremony at the resort, held in early December, was attended by world famous ski champions Janica Kostelic, Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Marc Girardelli.

Many Greeks, Bulgaria’s southern neighbours, are making the short journey across the border to Bansko for weekend skiing. Bansko has also seen an increase in the number of Bulgarian visiting the resort. Market analysts said that as so many people were using the resort, it was unlikely that Bansko would reduce the price of its ski passes.

There had also been an increase in the interest in the ski runs at Vitosha Mountain’s Aleko resort, just above Sofia. This was the first season that all the facilities could be used with one common lift pass. Tour operators and hotelier said that this winter season had all the signs of being the best for the past few year in terms of visitor numbers and financial results.

Tour operators expect about 30 per cent more tourists in comparison to the 2006/2007 season. The big mountain resorts were well groomed and cleaned, expecting a successful season. Stefan Sharlopov, owner of Sharlopov hotels, said that so far only the first day of this year had been critical for Pamporovo. The hotel he owns there had had reservations cancelled because of the blocked roads and heavy snowfalls, but currently everything was normal.

Bansko municipality has a contract with the company BKO. Bansko mayor Alexander Kravarov said the firm was obliged to clear the snow when it reached 10cm.

As of January 7, the snow clearing in Borovets was considered not good enough. However, it was unlikely to cause problems for tourists, neither would the change in the work schedule of the resort’s employees, Samokov hotel manager Svetla Atanasova said.

“There were no cancelled reservations and we have succeeded in reducing foreign tourists’ initial negative perceptions,” Lyubomir Pankovski, Alma Tour chairperson, said.

Furthermore, Bulgarian-language Pari daily reported that during the current winter season hotels and restaurants had increased their prices by about 10-15 per cent. The main reason given for the rises were higher electricity, water and fuels prices. According to Sharlopov, this was not an obstacle for the rising number of Bulgarian tourists, whose numbers were about 30 per cent higher than the previous year. Atanasova, on the other hand, said she expected a decrease in tourists numbers in winter resorts.

Bulgarian Hoteliers and Restaurants Association chairperson Blagoy Ragin said in total there had been about 20 per cent more tourists visiting Bulgaria so far this winter season in comparison to the same period last season. Skiers numbers were up by 10 per cent. December 2007 was the best December for the past 10 years and he expected the trend to continue through to the end of the winter.

The largest numbers of foreign tourists were expected to be from the UK, Russia, Greece and the Balkans. Ragin said that besides Bansko, Pamporovo, Borovets and Vitosha, Chepelare was the new spot and a “jewel” which local skiers should enjoy. He said the ski pass there cost 25 leva and the snow conditions were brilliant.

Ragin said that all visitors to the Panichishte resort in the Rila Mountain Range had been very happy about their choice ever since their visit there. For Bulgarians, Semkovo in Rila and Pirin and Chepelare were also among the most preferred destinations this winter, Standart daily reported.

On January 9 Standart reported that Bansko police had captured 12 cases of laundered money in the town. The money was being used in hotel construction.

The police officials said it was a very typical scheme. First the people who have been accused of money laundering told everyone that they had bought land, which they were later going to build hotels on, at a very good price, for example for 1000-2000 leva a sq m. The land was actually about 100 times more expensive and the criminals paid the real price for them. Afterwards the people who had “bought” the land use the land as collateral to obtain loans from 100 000 to one million leva, or more. The criminals then said that they had used the loan to build hotels on the land.

Blagoevgrad regional police directorate commissar Konstantin Tityanov said that these people would soon be checked legally and by the tax office. Kravarov, the mayor of Bansko, said that he would co-operate with everything demanded by the police on this issue.

Borovets
The biggest winter resort in the highest Bulgarian Rila Mountain Range, Borovets, is located 2543m above sea level and has 18 ski runs, which were all open and had good skiing conditions on January 9 with a snow cover of 160cm. The weekend temperatures are expected to be about -4C.

The first new ski run and lift in Borovets were scheduled to be officially opened on January 13. They are owned by Hristo Kovachki, the major shareholder in the company Boriko 2007.

Kovachki announced his investment in Borovets after reaching a deal with the local municipality over a 10 hectare plot of land. Samokov municipality holds 25 per cent of the mixed company Boriko 2007, while the remaining 75 per cent belong to the Kovachki company L M Impex. Boriko 2007 was established with the purpose of allowing Kovachki to invest his own money in the construction of lifts and ski runs, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported.

The first completed ski run is about one km long and serviced by a two-seater chair lift. The investment so far has been about 300 000 leva and the completed project is expected to cost between five and six million leva. After the end of the winter season, an artificial snow installation is planned for construction. The project includes two more ski runs, a hotel complex, restaurant and a tearoom at the last lift station.

Pamporovo
The Rhodope Mountains’ first winter resort, Pamporovo, is located at 1926m above sea level, has 20 ski runs and they were all open on January 9 and skiing conditions were good. The snow cover there had reached 80cm. The average temperature for the weekend January 11-13 was predicted to be about -3C.

Prices in Pamporovo hotels also fell drastically after the holidays. As of January 6, apartment prices at the Royal House Hotel were between 160 and 190 euro a night. Clients at the Royal Lodge Hotel were also paying about 50 euro less a night, a room cost between 55 and130 euro.

The villas in the holiday village of Malina were 70 euro each and one of these apartments could accommodate at least four people. Murgavets Hotel said it would be offering its double rooms for about 75 euro a night and apartments for 160 to 195 euro until March 4. Most of the hotels also offer a range of packages with discounts for three or more nights. In addition, the daily ski pass is now 10 per cent cheaper. Adults pay 32 leva a day.

Most of the tourist to Pamporovo tourists were from Ireland, the UK and Russia. More than 800 foreigner tourists were enjoying Pamporovo’s ski runs, Standart daily reported on January 8.