ALBERTO Tomba, Hristo Stoichkov and lots of other local and foreign celebrities will take part in advertising this winter season in Bansko to market the flourishing ski resort.
A five-star hotel of the Kempinski chain will be opened in February in Bansko, the mayor of the town Alexander Kravarov announced during the Construction and Investment Forum in Sofia on November 11.
This will be the first five-star hotel in the resort. It will have 150 rooms and will be located next to the ski slopes. The name of the hotel is Grand Arena. The investor is the Plovdiv-based company Gehard, and the financing is provided by First Investment Bank.
Currently, there are 70 hotels undergoing construction in Bansko, Kravarov also said. Over 150 million euro will be invested in all these projects. Most of the new hotels are small with between 25 to 30 rooms.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Bansko has offered grants of municipal land to investors who take over the construction of infrastructure around their projects.
The executive power should propose a solution to the infrastructure problem in mountain and seaside municipalities, Kravarov said. Bansko needs millions of leva for infrastructure but if the amount is not allocated from the state budget or provided by investors themselves, the municipality will not be able to solve the problem in the next ten years.
According to a recent report by property investment specialists Investor Provident, Bulgaria is certain to get money from abroad, provided the very attractive property investment opportunities.
"There are no words to describe the phenomenal rise in property prices taking place in Bulgaria's tourist areas," Investor Provident said. Some developers have seen their tourist property complexes rise in value in excess of a colossal 100 per cent in a year. Even if spread across the board, it still averages out to a sizeable capital growth of 35 per cent.
The World Tourism Organisation placed Bulgaria near the top in terms of tourism growth. In 2003 growth increased by 23 per cent compared to 2002 and the proceeds comprised 13 per cent of the country's GDP. Bulgaria's rising property prices have been greatly influenced by the European Union, which has had a tremendous impact already. This will be even greater after the country joins the EU in 2007, if as is expected, it follows the pattern demonstrated by Ireland.
Investors who have never considered Eastern Europe as part of their strategies are now rethinking their moves. Twenty to 30 per cent capital growth in a space of just six months is a return that will attract novices and professionals alike, and this is just the beginning.
And finally some good news on a sector that Bulgaria has been since long ago advised to develop - spa tourism.
The establishment of a National Association for Spa Tourism was announced at a news conference on November 13. Seven hotels are the first members of the new association. A condition for membership is rating of at least four stars.
The founders of the association said one of its aims would be to draw a clear border between balneology, meant for people with medical problems, and spa tourism, aimed at healthy people who want to get rid of stress and improve their health condition.
Among the first tasks of the association is to train spa hotel staff and define the standards for spa tourism, which in Bulgaria is yet non-existent, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Association for Spa Tourism Staminir Stankov said. Another aim of the association is to create a unique Bulgarian tourist product before this country's accession to the EU.
Bulgaria not only has beautiful nature but also a past preserved in architectural and historical monuments, which is a rare phenomenon. This potential is a very sound basis but not everything necessary for the development of tourism, US tour operators on an information-gathering visit to Bulgaria have said, quoted by Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).
They said Bulgaria is an empty space in their tourist destinations maps but will work for this absence to be rectified. Among the main problems for a foreign tourist here they singled out the absence of ways to pay with credit cards, the language barrier in smaller villages, dirty residential areas and street crime.
A five-star hotel of the Kempinski chain will be opened in February in Bansko, the mayor of the town Alexander Kravarov announced during the Construction and Investment Forum in Sofia on November 11.
This will be the first five-star hotel in the resort. It will have 150 rooms and will be located next to the ski slopes. The name of the hotel is Grand Arena. The investor is the Plovdiv-based company Gehard, and the financing is provided by First Investment Bank.
Currently, there are 70 hotels undergoing construction in Bansko, Kravarov also said. Over 150 million euro will be invested in all these projects. Most of the new hotels are small with between 25 to 30 rooms.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Bansko has offered grants of municipal land to investors who take over the construction of infrastructure around their projects.
The executive power should propose a solution to the infrastructure problem in mountain and seaside municipalities, Kravarov said. Bansko needs millions of leva for infrastructure but if the amount is not allocated from the state budget or provided by investors themselves, the municipality will not be able to solve the problem in the next ten years.
According to a recent report by property investment specialists Investor Provident, Bulgaria is certain to get money from abroad, provided the very attractive property investment opportunities.
"There are no words to describe the phenomenal rise in property prices taking place in Bulgaria's tourist areas," Investor Provident said. Some developers have seen their tourist property complexes rise in value in excess of a colossal 100 per cent in a year. Even if spread across the board, it still averages out to a sizeable capital growth of 35 per cent.
The World Tourism Organisation placed Bulgaria near the top in terms of tourism growth. In 2003 growth increased by 23 per cent compared to 2002 and the proceeds comprised 13 per cent of the country's GDP. Bulgaria's rising property prices have been greatly influenced by the European Union, which has had a tremendous impact already. This will be even greater after the country joins the EU in 2007, if as is expected, it follows the pattern demonstrated by Ireland.
Investors who have never considered Eastern Europe as part of their strategies are now rethinking their moves. Twenty to 30 per cent capital growth in a space of just six months is a return that will attract novices and professionals alike, and this is just the beginning.
And finally some good news on a sector that Bulgaria has been since long ago advised to develop - spa tourism.
The establishment of a National Association for Spa Tourism was announced at a news conference on November 13. Seven hotels are the first members of the new association. A condition for membership is rating of at least four stars.
The founders of the association said one of its aims would be to draw a clear border between balneology, meant for people with medical problems, and spa tourism, aimed at healthy people who want to get rid of stress and improve their health condition.
Among the first tasks of the association is to train spa hotel staff and define the standards for spa tourism, which in Bulgaria is yet non-existent, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Association for Spa Tourism Staminir Stankov said. Another aim of the association is to create a unique Bulgarian tourist product before this country's accession to the EU.
Bulgaria not only has beautiful nature but also a past preserved in architectural and historical monuments, which is a rare phenomenon. This potential is a very sound basis but not everything necessary for the development of tourism, US tour operators on an information-gathering visit to Bulgaria have said, quoted by Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).
They said Bulgaria is an empty space in their tourist destinations maps but will work for this absence to be rectified. Among the main problems for a foreign tourist here they singled out the absence of ways to pay with credit cards, the language barrier in smaller villages, dirty residential areas and street crime.
