Foreign tourists, who have booked ski vacations in Pamporovo winter resort as early as 2006, cancel their reservations and abandon their plans to visit the resort.

The lack of snow which Pamporovo suffered in the beginning of the ski season was the main reason for the booking cancellation, hotel owners told Dnevnik daily.

Martin Yanev, representative of Laguna Tours, said that some 50 per cent of the bookings were canceled. The situation would get better by the end of the season as snow coverage was already suitable for skiing and more snowfall was expected in March 2007, he said.

According to Zora Hotel representative Marin Hadzhiev the resort was full and only 10 to 15 per cent of the bookings were canceled. The season’s success was not endangered, said he.

The lack of snow forced the hotel owners to decrease the prices in the beginning of 2007. Accommodation in some hotels cost only seven or eight euro per night.

Other hotels tried to compensate the lack of snow with additional activities like trips to nearby cultural, historical and natural sights.