Half of the New Year’s packages of Bulgaria's winter resorts had already been booked, Bulgarian Tourist Chamber said.

Most popular were the four or five-day packages around Christmas and the New Year, the chamber told investor.bg.

Officially, the tourist winter season 2007 in most of the resorts would be opened between December 15 and 17, when the first charter flights with organised foreign tourist groups would arrive.

According to preliminary orders, most of the foreign tourists to come to Bulgaria would be from the UK, followed by Russians and Germans.

As in 2007, the most popular resort would probably continue to be Bansko, but the number of tourists in Pamporovo and Borovets was expected to rise, investor.bg said. Smaller resorts, such as Chepelare and Dobrinishte would also attract more tourists.

Hotel owners predicted that the 2007 season would be better than the 2006 season. The bed capacity of the resorts had increased by 15 per cent since 2006, they said.

Ski pass prices were expected to remain the same as in 2006, Bulgarian Tourist Chamber told investor.bg.