The Bulgarian winter resorts are preparing for 2005/06 ski season!

The Bulgarian winter resorts are preparing for 2005/06 ski season!

article by: Standart daily, *with excerpts,15.10.05

Bulgarian winter resorts are preparing for 2005/06 ski season! This winter tourists from Sweden will visit Bansko Bansko is about to welcome over 400 000 guests. Hotel near by hotel and between them hotel again. What is it? Thus local Bansko people are having fun with the construction works in the town. However the local authorities are in much harder position. The mayor Alexaner Kravarov made a program to stop the nonstop construction works of buildings, which offer apartments for sale or hotels. Among the most important things, which the mayor have to do urgently is the restriction of the number of floors and the density of the constructions. The main goal is to restrict the construction works to just 30% of the area of the property. “We need more green sites, but unfortunately, I can’t stop the construction works. The investors are protecting their rights in the court” said Kravarov. “It is high time that the government look towards the resorts. We need a special statute, and funds to help us.” At the moment the total area of the constructions is 206 000 square meters. The price of the land reaches 150- 160 euro per square meter. The price of the residential apartments is between 900 and 1200euro. The municipal council made a decision to collect 4 BGN for each spread square meter construction. . The purls of the town are – the five star “Kempinski Grand Arena” and hotel complex “Tampelier.” At least 2000 will be the new beds in the resort for the next season. An ice ring in the center will surprise the skaters. “We are doing everything to provide full comfort to the tourists. We are waiting for new investments to take care of the problems with the draining system and the supply of fresh water”, said Alexander Kravarov. Borovets A lot of tourists from Sweden and Finland are expected in the hotels in Borovets. The Scandinavians are impressed not only by the Bulgarian pistes, but also the warm mineral baths in Devin, Velingrad and Varshets. The Spa centers are very modern in the cold Scandinavian countries. This winter Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets will be visited mainly by tourists from Great Britain and Greece. There are even reservations from Japan and the Far East. According to the preliminary prognosis the rise of the tourists in Bulgaria for the next season will be 15%. Everyone in the resort is preparing for the start of the new season. The hotels are being polished, the construction workers are working 24 four hours seven days per week, to finish the new building till the first snow fall. Luxurious hotels, family villas and cozy pubs are growing in Bansko, Velingrad, and Smolyan. Two new pistes will welcome the e skiers in the Troyan Balkan. Our services are high quality- assured the brunch’s representatives. New attractions and surprises are waiting everywhere. Ribaritsa will offer wild races with jeeps in the snow. Bansko and Borovets are betting on the winter horseback riding. New ski lifts and equipment will provide additional comfort for the ski lovers. Borovets is very attractive site for ski lovers and holidaymakers with its just 73 kilometers to Sofia. This year the preparations for the new season started long before the season itself. The pistes are being cleared and the lifts are being additionally checked, the equipment of the skiers is also being changed. The planned prophylactics will finish till the middle of November, announced Rosen Milkov, a manager of investment projects in Borosport. A new 10 kilometers long piste is now being constructed from Markudjik to Borovets in Tsarska Bistritsa. It will be used in special occasions if the lifts went out of order or the wind is too strong. The capacity of the lifts is 7000 people per hour, said Milkov. Tables with information for the weather conditions in the site are provided on each lift station. The old piste maintenance machines are also prepared for the new season. The most fashionable truck is the one which will be used for the maintenance of the traces for cross country skiing. This winter the resort will have two posts for radio relay communication. Thus there will be a non stop connection between the lifts and pistes in case of emergency or accidents. Borovets is divided in three parts- Sitniakovski, Yastrebishki and Markodgishki. The first part is little above the sea level and will start working around December, 10th when the first low temperatures are expected. Till December, 20th it will have a usable piste with artificial snow. The second zone offers steep alpine pistes, made for competitions and good skiers. After New Year usually this piste has enough snow and is ready to be used. The third part is higher above the sea level- 2500 meters and the snow is there till May. However before the snow falls the pistes have to be well prepared for the season. They are being drained to stop the erosion process. The areas around the lifts are going to be enlarged and the roads to them. Toilets and shelters will also be constructed close to the lift stations. The Mountain Rescue Service in the complex has eight saviors and during the winter they are hiring eight more. The prophylactic of the motor sleights and the emergency patrol has been done during the spring. The ski school in Borovets has 200 instructors, who speak foreign languages. Many of them are ex- professional skiers. The famous skier- Peter Popangelov explained- before the last season were changed and renewed all of the ski and snow boards, in the resort. There is a special kindergarten for children from 4-6, where they are being pampered from 10.00 till 16.00. The hotels are also preparing for the new season. “Hotel Rila” will be fully gasified this year. Attraction in the center of Velingrad This winter the super attraction of Velingrad will be the brand new Grand hotel “Abir” right in the center of the town. The five floored building with a super modern architecture already can boost with its first guests- most of the ambassadors of the Arab countries in Bulgaria. The stay in the hotel includes a transport to the nearby picturesque sites- Undola, where they can enjoy a ski piste and a ski school, Tsigov Chark resort, Dospat, Sarnitsa and Beglika. The hotel offers 24 hours room service, dry cleaning and hair dresser. The hosts are also happy that the swimming pools are supplied with the famous healing mineral water. Depending on its character it can be from 42 to 90 degrees Celsius. The tourists can also enjoy the most impressive karst spring in Bulgaria- Kleptuza Lake. Razlog is gaining speed Razlog is no longer in the shadow of Bansko and is slowly reaching its high investment levels. Every day the mayor of Razlog is dealing with offers for the construction of Hotels, parks and villa sites. However Tatarski is not in a hurry with the decisions. The main reason is that the interest towards the small mountain town is huge. Investors are paying a lot of money to buy land in the town and start construction of new sites. Others are buying houses in the nearby villages- Dobarsko, Gorno Draglishte, Banya and others. “There is enough time for everything he says. If we don’t plan everything there will be chaos just like in Bansko”. A priority goal for the moment is the construction of a substation at the foot of Rila where not long ago was constructed a luxurious four star hotel “Katariono spa”. The e land around it is already sold so very soon new buildings will be constructed in the site. “That is why we are obliged to provide a normal electricity system and communication. We do not want chaotic constructions with poor infrastructure.” A firm from Sofia is ready to buy 100 decares land in Predela site for the construction of a five star Spa center, ethnographic street, villa site, tennis courts, apartments and parks. They guarantee an investment of 97 million BGN and they will need just three years for the full development of the site. The municipal council has made the decision to construct a five kilometer water- conduit to Betolovoto site, where a golf playground is now being constructed. The complex will take a total 1000 decares from the joint company “Pirin Golf Holiday club” of the municipal and the local firm, “Balkanstroy.” Constructors from UK are advising the project for the construction of the Golf terrain. The Playground will have 18 holes, artificial lakes, hills are also being constructed, special drains and grass form foreign countries are also being imported. Mini football stadium with volleyball playground, hippodrome, trade center, café, restaurants, hotels with 3000 beds are about to be build. “Next winter it will open. The tourist who come in the resort would definitely enjoy other sports and attractions. We are obliged to take care of their comfort”, said Luben Tatarski. “We also have to provide order and calmness for the guests and residents of the town,” added he. He initiated the establishment of a municipal firm “Guard activities”. 15 people will work together with the local police department, to guarantee the preservation of the people’s possessions and the environment. The traces are also rendered safe Ulen Joint stock company, which is taking care of the ski center over Bansko, succeeded to render safe all of the pistes for the skiers. Safe nets are placed everywhere. This year new equipment is not constructed. All of the activities of the firm were headed to the restoration of the traces. They were cleared of stones and a special mixture of imported grass was sown on the terrains. “We are using the services of the best experts in this branch. We are ready for the start of the new winter season. The guests of the ski center will be satisfied from what was done,” announced the finance director of “Ulen” Maya Ignatova. Refreshing repairs in Pamporovo and Chepelare The mayor of Smolyan Dora Yankova issued an order to stop the construction works on the territory of the municipal. The deadline for the seizing of the construction works in two weeks. The clearance of the materials and the removal of the cranes have to finish till November 30th. The investors of the new hotels have to recon with the order, so that the winter season will start normally. The roads to the sites have to be cleaned and accessible. The buildings also need to be ready for the winter. It is still not clear whether Chepelare municipal will take the same preparation actions. The territory of Chepelare is mainly with new buildings which are still not finished. That is why Chepelare municipal has to arrange the clearing of the resort from snow and the roads to the resort. According to the assurance of the mayor Todor Bozukov his winter there won’t be any problems with the roads of the municipal. A very serious firm will do this job. However problems with the parking lots are again expected to happen during the high season. Skiers and tourists will have to park their cars on the pavements and roads, commented specialists. Next year the problem with the parking lots is expected to be finished. Two new parking lots with enough capacity will be built next year. They will be situated in the resort’s main bodies “Studenets” and “Malina”. The damaged pistes, due to the heavy rains and floods during the summer, are now being reconstructed and repaired. Pamporovo Joint stock company will invest in the recovery of the pistes and in the construction of two new pistes. The damaged pistes are covered in and leveled. They will also be widened. The hotels are performing the common refreshing repairs. The equipment and drugs will be prepared for prophylactics. Next year the municipal will offer 2556 new beds. This base will help for the development of rural eco and extreme tourism. The tendency is Pamporovo to become a whole year resort. The road infrustruction, demolished by the summer floods is now being reconstructed and repaired.