The Hilton hotel in Sofia has remained without a star rating after it lost a case against Bulgaria’s State Agency for Tourism (SAT). In the beginning of August the Hilton filed a case against SAT for the agency’s refusal to categorise the hotel on the grounds that it does not meet the minimal requirements for the luxury class.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), which is final body for the resolution of such cases in Bulgaria, disallowed the plea from the hotel’s owner Company for Luxury Property, part of the Irish Queen Group. The court denied the hotel its star rating despite the fact that changes to the regulations for hotel categorisation have been in force for several months. This regulation change mainly favours luxury properties, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported.

However, the hotel continued working as a five-star hotel while waiting for the court’s decision. Approached for a comment by The Sofia Echo, Hilton management remained silent. Manager Jack Brun is refusing to speak on the issue since SAT decided that the hotel does not deserve five stars.

“The court’s decision is correct as far as it is based on the old regulations,” SAT chairperson Anelia Krushkova said. However, according to her the hotel can apply for a categorisation again, and this will be evaluated on the basis of the new regulations. SAT representatives believe that the Hilton corresponds to the new minimal requirements for the luxury category.

All Hilton hotels throughout the world have five-star luxury status. Sofia’s Hilton was open in March 2001, when the international chain entered the Bulgarian market.
The Bulgarian Hilton cost $40 million. It has 246 rooms and apartments, equipped with modern facilities. Hilton International have a 20-year management contract to run the hotel.

Meanwhile, on August 6 the Bulgarian Consulate in Moscow issued the 100 000th tourist visa for 2007, SAT press office said. The visa was granted to Russian tourist Svetlana Sessina, who will spend his holiday in Zlatni Pyasutsi (Golden Sands) Black Sea resort during the period August 10 – August 20. In such cases the consular service officers issue the visa free of charge.

The Bulgarian consulates in Russia have recorded a considerable increase of the tourist visas issued so far in 2007. The expectations are that by the end of August 2007, the number of tourist visas issued by the Bulgarian consulate in Novosibirsk will equal the total number of entry visas issued for the whole 2006. Since the beginning of the year in St. Petersburg only 31 000 visas have been issued. For the whole 2006, the Bulgarian consulate there issued 38 000 visas.

During the peak season for the Bulgarian consulates, Krushkova is visiting the Russian SAT chairperson in St. Petersburg. The aim of the visit is to show what Bulgarian tourism can offer. For the first time in the past 15 years a chairperson of a Bulgarian state institution is visiting the Ural mountain part of Russia, SAT said. As part of her visit, Krushkova met with St. Petersburg vice-governor Yurii Molchanov and with the local state tourism agency.