An international press tour will take place in Sofia from February 21 to 24. During the event, journalists from leading European publications will visit Bulgaria to find out about the news, realities and perspectives in the sphere of real estate.

The programme includes seminars and presentations by leading construction, architectural and property companies, as well as panel discussions and a tour of various building developments. The journalists will also have an opportunity to meet the local real estate community. All this will culminate with a ski trip to Borovets.

Such international press tours, which, in 2006, occurred in Belgrade, Budapest and Bucharest, are part of CEPIF (Central Europe Property & Investment Fair) – an event for professionals and companies active in the Central and Eastern European investment and property market.

This year’s International Press Tour will visit Sofia thanks to Sofia Echo Media and its latest publication – PropertyWise magazine. Sponsors of the event are Best of Bulgaria Property Service, Adis, West Incorporated Ltd, BT Collection, Borosport  and UPS. Media supporting the press tour in Sofia include publications from Austria (Immobilien), the Czech Republic (Finance New Europe, Development News, Estates News Prague), France (Le Monde), Germany (Der Spiegel, Immobilien Zeitung), Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Ireland (Irish Independent), the UK (The Independent, Foreign Direct Investment, Property Investor News, Property Week) and 11 other countries.

Atanas Paskalev, Sofia Echo Media commercial director, shared some details about this initiative.

“I was at the International Press Tour in Belgrade in 2006. The event was entirely financed by the World Bank; the organisation was very good. But I was peeved by the fact that such a real estate-related event was held in Belgrade and not in Sofia, because Bulgaria has much more to offer as a property and tourist destination,” Paskalev said.

“We took the initiative because we want to popularise our country, to create a positive image among the foreign community and cease speculations, and in this way, attract foreign investments to Bulgaria,” he explained. “We do not consider the organisation of this event as commercial.”

The journalists attending the press tours are professionals covering the property beat. They make serious analyses of the markets in different countries. “We will engage real estate professionals to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on different topics such as the residential market, holiday property market, innovative projects and investment perspectives,” Paskalev said.

The first three days will be held in Sofia. “We’ll try to sort out the most valuable things to be seen in Sofia, tourist attractions and property developments,” Paskalev said. “We want our colleagues from the foreign media to get the real picture of the Bulgarian property market.”

The last day of the four-day programme is sponsored and  by BT Collection and Borosport. It includes a ski competition among  Bulgarian and the foreign journalists and discussions about Bulgaria’s holiday properties.

When asked about on what the success of the press tour depends, Paskalev answered: “On good weather; you know Sofia is not always the best place in February. We hope that everything else will happen in the best possible way. We invited Sofia’s mayor Boiko Borissov and Sofia’s chief architect Petar Dikov to welcome the journalists. We made up an interesting and entertaining programme, because we want to leave positive impressions of Bulgaria,” Paskalev said. “We’ll find out whether the tour was successful when we read the journalists’ publications.

“I consider Sofia Echo Media and its publications The Sofia Echo, www.sofiaecho.com and the others as the starting informational point for every foreigner interested in Bulgaria in some way. That’s why I decided we are the right kind of company to initiate the press tour.

“It has been difficult for us to make the tour happen, because very few companies have agreed to support us. I think local businesses do not understand the advantages and the long-term benefits of hosting such an international event. The cost of the event is about 25 000 euro. We still have gaps in our budget, so we are open to anyone who wants to support the Sofia Press Tour,” he said.