Ski season 2006/2007 in Bulgaria

AFTER much anticipation, the time has come to launch ski season 2006/2007 in Bulgaria and it appears that hosts have prepared themselves to meet their guests properly.Ski legends Rosi Mittermeier, Mark Girardelli and Franz Klammer will ski the Alberto Tomba run near Bansko on December 17 for the launch of the official opening of the ski season in Bansko. The three skiing stars will take part in the ceremony at the invitation of the Bulgarian Skiing Federation, Bansko Municipality, local tourist organisations and the regions Alliance for the Popularisation and Development of Tourism. The official opening of the ski season will be preceded by a concert at the bottom station of the lift in Bansko, in which noted Bulgarian performers Beloslava, Upsurt, the Karizma duet, the Caffe band, Roushi Videnliev and Gravity Co will take part, with television and music presenter Deo acting as host. Pamporovo, another leading Bulgarian winter resort, expects a 30 per cent growth in the number of tourists this year, according to Nikolai Iliev, head of the company running the resorts lifts. The ski season there opened on December 10 with fireworks and a cocktail party. The increase in the number of tourists is calculated on the basis of confirmed bookings made by tour operators and the sale of ski packages. Most of the tourists will be from Ireland, the UK, Germany and Russia. Pamporovo opened the season with new hotels that have a total of 1000 beds, three additional garages with a capacity for parking 90 cars, a snow clearing machine and new runs of a total length of five km.More than 55 million euro had been invested in Pamporovo over the past two years, said Georgi Georgiev, chairman of Pamporovo 21st Century, an association of hotel owners and restaurateurs. The hosts have every chance of attracting as many foreign tourists as possible, since, despite the constantly rising prices, Bulgaria continues to be among the cheapest destinations. As internet publication PRWEB said on December 12, accommodation, food, ski passes, equipment rental andthe price of a few drinks in the evening were quite a lure in this country. Traditional ski resorts in Europe can be very expensive. France, Switzerland and Austria certainly offer very few bargains for winter sport holidaymakers. People who love their skiing and enjoy a bargain are heading for Bulgaria, the publication said. Bulgaria is scheduled to become a full-fledged member of the EU in 2007 and Sofia is actively bidding for the winter Olympics in 2014. This has led to increased investment in ski-area developments and property, as the infrastructure is improved dramatically to attract both winter and summer tourists. Ski resorts such as Borovets and Bansko are now among Europes top and offer excellent value for money.

Sun 18 Decem  Greek Investors Eye Bulgaria\'s Real Estate Market

Business More and more Greek investors are showing interest in Bulgaria\'s real estate market, Greek MPA news agency reports. Bulgaria\'s property market has also attracted the attention of investors from the UK, Israel and Cyprus. Return on investments in that sector remains high and it is believed that the prices have not reached their climax, the news agency points out. Official data showed that the average annual return on investments reached 12% to 13%, whereas unofficial figures claim that it is up to 60%. Within the Money Show conference in Thessaloniki it has been revealed that more and more Greek companies are purchasing land and constructing in Bulgaria. Data presented at the conference has showed that the Greek contracts that are about to be inked by the end of 2005 would reach EUR 1 B. Bulgaria\'s entry into the European Union is expected to attract even more investments in the fields of logistics, transport and advertising in the country, the news agency also comments.

25th Novembe  Bulgaria\'s Real Estate Market Marks Europe\'s Highest Growt

Bulgaria\'s growing property market has experienced yet another record breaking year of investment, reported news.assetz.co.uk, managed by a group of property investment companies delivering selected UK and overseas property and investment solutions. Around 250,000 homes are expected to be sold and finalized by the end of this year, the article points out. \"The figures mark the former Eastern bloc country out as one of the principal growth property markets in Europe. At a time when most countries are seeing the growth of the past few years ebbing away, Bulgaria expects this year to bring a 28 per cent increase on the number of homes sold last year - which had also been a bumper year with 196,000 properties sold.\" The article says properties are set to raise 15 per cent more year-on-year, making it one of Europe\'s highest growth markets.

2nd December  Daily Mail - Smarter Buyers Bank on Bansko

Smarter Buyers Bank on Bansko 2nd December2006 By Cheryl Markosky Daily Mail Baansko is the first mountain resort in Bulgaria to build ski chalets that don\'t look like gulags, reports Cheryl Markosky. UNLESS you have a secret fetish for brutalist Soviet tower blocks, ramshackle ruins or hastily assembled seaside blocks, there\'s not that much property on offer in Bulgaria. So buyers will be heartened by the news thiat upmarket developer Manhattn Loft Corporation is building a £17 million luxury 500-apartment scheme within the ski resort of Bansko in the south of the country. The developer doesn\'t fit the usual Bulgarian developer stereotype. Harry Handelsman, the charismatic chairman of Manhattan Loft, was the \'first to introduce Friends-style loft living into Britain in the Eighties and has won awards for his airy apartments in East London\'s Clerkenwell and at No.l West India Quay in Canary Wharf. His work is so highly regarded, most of the apartments — costing £500,000 to £1.5million — in his latest project at former St Pancras Station Hotel in London sold within weeks of launching. \'Some of the architecture in Bulgaria is the pits and I have been alarmed by people rushing out to buy quickly just because prices are cheap,\' he says. \'Why build mediocrity when you can give a bit more attention to detail and still make money?\' Bulgaria is cheap in many ways. For example, it\'s attractive to skiers unwilling to fork out £2,000 to rent a chalet, for a week in France or Switzerland, when in Bulgaria a similar property costs just £750. \'Families, in particular, are attracted to Bulgaria where the \"costs\" — i.e. the price of meals, snacks and holiday treats — are only a third of pricier Western European resorts,\' says Robert Jenkin of agent Bulgarian Dreams. \'This is down-to-earth skiing like it used to be.\' The ski resorts are also expanding, and millions of leva (the local currency) are being spent to upgrade Bansko\'s pistes, Install a second gondola in Bansko next year and rebuild the road that runs from the capital Sofia down to the Greek border. Getting rid of the potholes in the roads should dramatically cut the journey time from Sofia airport to Bansko, which takes two-and-a-half hours. ALSO, Bulgaria hopes to host the Winter Olympics in 2014. If it wins the bid, Bansko\'s facilities would improve further and house prices are likely to rise. Bansko is one of the three best-known resorts in Bulgaria and although property there is up to 20 per cent more expensive than rivals Borovets and Pamprovo, Bansko is more developed and closer to Sofia. The other great plus is Bansko village, much admired for its 16th-century architecture, old churches and cobbled streets set in a valley between the Pirin and Rila mountains — not unlike the Pyrenees. \'There are magnificent buildings,\' says Handelsman, \'and Bansko is really quaint. I don\'t know of any other ski village like it.\' Property values in Bulgaria have been going up over the past couple of years, but you can still pick up, a wreck for under £20,000, while larger modern homes might set you back as much as half a million. Prices at Handelsman development, The Orchard, are on a par with other schemes in Bansko (although they lack its five-star gloss and amenities) but still astonishingly cheap. A studio apartment at The Orchard starts at £31,400, a one-bedroom apartment kicks off at £53,200 and even the duplex penthouses are reasonable at £85,200. A five-minute walk from the ski lifts, the scheme will have its own ice skating rink that converts into tennis courts in the summer, and a spa with treatment rooms, saunas, swimming pool and a crèche. Maintenance charges are estimated at £7 per square metre a year. \'All this adds up to good value. Because materials and labour costs are low and land costs only a tenth of what you would pay in the Alps, we are able to sell the apartments at good prices,\' says Robert Jenkin. For those seduced by the Bulgarian dream, remember that it will take some time for Bansko and other ski resorts to reach the same levels of sophistication enjoyed elsewhere in Europe. Also, flights are limited— there are two a day with Balkan Air and British Airways from Sofia. Flights to Varna are less frequent. There are no low-cost carriers, so expect to pay from £165 to £235 return.