Ehotels, a new Bulgarian chain managed by Ambassador Tour company, presented its hotel portfolio on February 19 2008. The hotels and Ambassador Tours are both owned by Bourgas-based construction holding PONS.

The chain now operates four hotels -- Snezhanka in Pamporovo resort, Perla in Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), Diva in Chiflik village and Rodopski dom (Rhodopi home) in Chepelare. Another two will be associated soon: Knyaz Pavel in Pavel Banya in autumn 2008 and the newly-built Andromeda in Sunny Beach, expected join Ehotels in the summer. Their managers are now negotiating the accession terms.

"We had the initial stock of hotels, we had the team, the expertise and experience and the next logical step was to move further on -- uniting the existing developments into a hotel chain, based on common standards, common staff training policy, an elaborate marketing and sales strategy, thus optimising the costs and streamlining the activities," board chairman Alexander Pruvchev said.

"Our strategy is to establish a diversified portfolio of three and four-star hotels in various locations and types: mountain, seaside, all-year-round and city hotels," he added. Presently, the new chain manages 450 hotel rooms with a total capacity of 1 200 beds.

Anastasia Sivkova, marketing and sales director with Ambassador Tour, presented some of the company's results, achievements and trends in tourist sector. The number of bookings in 2007 exceeded 90 000, more than half of them (53 per cent) by foreign visitors.

Foreigner interest was focused on the less common locations, like Diva hotel in Troyan area and Rhodopi home in Chepelare, whereas Bulgarian visitors were primarily driven to traditionally popular destinations like Sunny Beach and Pamporovo - Bulgarian tourists accounted for some 10 per cent of the bookings over the first quarter of 2007, rising to 20 in the the first two months of 2008.