11/08/2019 16:45

In quest of year-round Bulgaria

[IMG=18666-4243] On the 16th of December at the reception in the Bulgarian embassy an opening of the winter season-2005/05 was announced to be open. A significant attention at the event was devoted to the positioning of Bulgaria as a destination of all-year holidays. According to the Bulgarian party, in winter tourists and therefore operators will be attracted by not only mountain skiing, but also by SPA-holidays, congress and business tourism. ‘As a large amount of mineral resources is situated in mountains, skiing can be combined with Spa-procedures. What is more, there are possibilities of business tourism. This year it was decided to combine the above-mentioned opportunities’, informed BANKO a head of tourism and advertising department of the Bulgarian embassy Vladimir Dimitrov. Hotels at ski-mountain resorts, who have SPA-complex, are indeed attractive for tourists, noted the head of marketing, advertisement and agent work at ‘Solvex travel’ Lidiya Vasilieva. ‘If there is a possibility to combine skiing with SPA-procedures in a hotel of residence or not far from it, people will willingly use it’, - she assures.- ‘This way, thermal baths in Ognyanovo, 8 km from Bansko, are quite popular’. Nevertheless, branding and promoting of Bulgarian SPA on the Russian market just at the expense of combining it with more demanded kinds of holidays is very hard, some tour operators believe. Goal-directed support of the government of Bulgaria is needed. ‘Real demand for SPA in Bulgaria will not develop without relevant advertisement of the state and nothing of the like is planned for the near future. The same thing can be said about business tourism’ believes Dmitry Cherepanov, head of the Bulgarian department of ICS Travel Group. Besides, the most well-known resorts of the country suitable for balneological procedures (Sandanski, Khisar, Velingrad) are situated far from ski mountain or sea resorts. Nevertheless, according to forecasts of national office and operators in winter season the sales market of tours to Bulgaria will increase by 30-40%. According to the results of 2005 a growth is expected by 25-30%. It is encouraged by the considerable increase of hotels, improvement of service and infrastructure as well as correct price politics.