Representatives of the tourism industry in Bulgaria said that after the wide popularisation of hotels in the country, it’s now hostels’ turn, reported Bulgarian-language Pari daily on January 24.

Hostels previously were used as accommodation in schools or factories. Now the term has broadened its meaning to a tourist dormitory where several people can sleep in the same room. Such accommodation is usually based in older, preferably separate, houses or houses with a separate entrance for guests. Owners of hostels must also speak foreign languages.

Tourism industry survey shows the number of individual tourists in Bulgaria is growing faster than that of organised groups of visitors. Also growing is the number of young foreigners, as well as of travellers seeking cheaper and less pretentious place to stay while in Bulgaria.

Popular travel websites have already presented hundreds of hostels in Bulgaria, including cabins and small family hotels.

In Veliko Turnovo there are already several hostels on the famous historical Gourko Street and on Samodivska Charshia.

Some time ago, 28-year-old engineer Graeme Bright from Essex, southern England, bought a house in the old part of Veliko Turnovo. He arrived in Eastern Europe four years ago as a traveller. A consultant to three companies regarding the renovation of old buildings and about foreigners who want to buy property in Bulgaria, Bright was impressed by the construction traditions preserved in Bulgarian Renaissance houses. He turned his Bulgarian property into a small hostel with three apartments, visited mainly by young British people.

The interest in hostels is growing also in the mountain regions. For a hostel to be prosperous, it needs to be popular. In many cases, the tourists themselves popularise the hostels by word of mouth and by passing along advertising materials.

There are no special requirements for hostels. The price a night varies between five and 50 leva, says the director of the municipal tourist company in Veliko Turnovo, Daniel Popov. In his opinion, hostels are just starting to become popular in Bulgaria and they fill a certain tourist market niche. However, in hostels in Sofia, which number about 10, Bulgarian guests are still rare. Most of the Bulgarian tourists who visit Veliko Turnovo also look for a hotel with more facilities. But in the mountain regions, hostels have a future and will develop, according to Popov.