Snow News Is Good News 20/03/2008
It has been a great season for British skiers for that most obvious of reasons: both North America and the Alps have had great snow. The industry has also been helped by new destinations, such as Finland, Slovenia and Serbia. And it is not over - in the Rockies and the Alps, the snow base is ensuring one of the later seasons in recent history. A combination of superb conditions and tour operators working harder than ever to sell new resorts has offset a certain caution in people's spending habits. Crystal's annual research report on the British ski market doesn't come out until summer; meanwhile, the evidence suggests that there has been a small increase in the numbers of skiers in the traditional countries - France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria - but the main growth is... more

Turkish Dedeman Hotel Chain Enters Bulgaria 14/03/2008
Turkish hotel chain Dedeman Hotels&Resorts International will take over the management of two Bulgarian hotels, owned by Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan, Dnevnik daily reported on February 29. The hotel operator has already placed job ads to fill available vacancies in Bulgarian papers. Dedeman will take over the Ozkan hotels - the 200-room Trimontsium Princess in Plovdiv and the 600-room Sofia Princess in the Bulgarian capital, in early March. The Turkish operator intends to invest in upgrading the two hotels which are currently rated at four stars. Dedeman manages a total of 20 urban and resort hotels, most of them in Turkey, but also in Latvia, Cyprus, Moldova and Uzbekistan. The company intends to add some five or six urban and resort hotels to its portfolio in near future. Murat... more

Bulgaria Foreign Debt Drops 2,8% By End Of January 27/03/2008
Bulgaria's gross foreign debt falls 2,5% to 27,4 billion EUR at the end of January. The reason according to the central bank is the withdrawn of foreign deposits from local banks, Reuters informed. The foreign debt has jumped to almost 36% y / y mainly due to strong private borrowing through the last year, data showed. The debt slowed to 83,7% of GDP by the end of January, down from 97,3% a month earlier. The private foreign debt fell 3% on a monthly basis to 23,4 billion EUR, after mainly foreign banks have withdrawn some 788 million EUR from their Bulgarian deposits. Bulgaria paid a total of 1,02 billion EUR to service its gross foreign debt through January, up from 721 million in 2007. more

Bulgarias Bansko To Develop Yearround Tourism Opportunities 14/03/2008
Bulgaria's Bansko mountain resort would search for ways to attract tourists year-round, The Independent reported. Until recently Bansko was the typical ski resort with booming tourism activity in the winter season and almost empty during the summer. Now investors seek to attract tourists during the summer, offering services like bike and hiking trails, horseback-riding lessons and golf courses, The Independent said. Since 2003 over 3 000 British have invested in Bansko attracted by the resort's development opportunities in view of its 2014 Winter Olympics host application. One of the investment projects includes the construction of Alpine Lodge, a 123 apartment complex near a golf ground used for training under a system designed by British golf celebrity Ian Woosnam.... more

400 Million Euro Investment In Mixed Complex Near Bulgarias Capital 12/03/2008
Gardens Group company plans to invest in a large-scale project of mixed type near Sofia's village of Lozen. The investment would total 400 million euro, investor. bg reported. The name of the complex would be Garden City and it would cover 600 000 sq m. The complex would include nearly 200 apartments, 240 houses, trade centres, office buildings, a sports centre, a school and a kindergarden. The project is expected to be completed by 2012. More than 100 000 sq m of the terrain would be covered with green areas. The sales price of Garden City is expected to reach 500 to 600 million euro. Gardens Group started construction of its Bistritsa Gardens residential complex on September 20. The new complex at walking distance from the centre of the village of Bistritsa. It would... more