Feature: Deep snow boosts tourist ski season in Bulgaria

The deep snow in recent months has contributed to very good sales at Borovets, the second largest ski resort in Bulgaria, industry insiders have said.

Luba Klenova, director of marketing and sports activities for the company Borosport, which is a concessionaire of the 24 ski runs and operator of the 15 ski lifts at Borovets, said this season had been fruitful.

According to Luba, the exact percentage increase of tourists would be calculated after the end of the season, but it was already clear that due to the heavy snow, the season was going much better than last year, when the snow was limited and the weather was very warm.

The company estimated that in the first two months this year it has had an increase in visits by 40 percent compared to the same period last year, she said.

Blagovestka Tomova, head of the union of hoteliers and owners at Borovets, said the resort, which is a year-round destination located in the Rila mountains just 70 km from Sofia, has 27 hotels and several apartment hotels and villas, with a total of 8,200 beds.

She said the conflict situation in Ukraine had influenced the resort's attendance records by decreasing the number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, but the decline was offset by the very strong growth from the Balkan countries including Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Turkey.

"These are markets that seem to like rediscovering Borovets resort, and have very significant growth in recent years," Blagovestka said.

Tomova, who is also general manager of Hotel Rila, the emblem of Borovets, said most of the guests in the hotel were Britons, followed by Bulgarians, and people from the Balkan countries.

For several years, the hotel has had a notable attendance of Kuwaiti tourists who like Borovets very much, Tomova said. "Even they say that this is heaven on Earth," she said.

Among the advantages of Borovets, Tomova said, are the beautiful nature, the quietude, and the good ratio between the number of beds and the capacity of the ski facilities that can serve 15,000 people per hour, which means that even skiers who are not staying at the hotels in the resort can comfortably practise their favorite sport.

Elitsa Varadinova from Sofia has been coming to Borovets since childhood, and now she frequently visits the resort with her husband and their 6-year-old son.

"It is pretty close to Sofia, which is a good option for sports," she said. "I also like the nature, not only at Borovets, but the whole nature in Bulgaria."

Simon Delany, a tourist from Manchester, said he has been to Borovets 17 times because the resort "has everything" he needs.

"The facilities and the runs have got better over the years, and the prices are more affordable compared to other countries," he concluded. Endit