Informes Sectoriales OP - Icex

TOURISM AND RELATED SERVICES IN BULGARIA
♦ Kazanluk tomb - (IV-III c. BC);
♦ Thracian tomb near the village of Sveshtari, close to Razgrad (dated from
2,300 years ago);
♦ Madara Horseman (early VIII c.)
♦ Boyana church – frescos, dating back from 1259;
♦ Ivanovski rock churches (near Rousse), XI-XIV c.;
♦ Rila monastery - (X c.);
♦ Ancient town in Nessebar.
There is a plenitude of monuments from different historic epochs: pre-historian
finds, Thracian tombs, finds from the Ancient Greek times, Roman fortresses, historical
monuments from the time of the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom,
architectural attractions from the National Revival period, which have shaped fully
or partially the face of Bulgarian towns.
Vacation homes
In recent years, Bulgaria has become a popular destination for foreign vacation home
buyers, especially with British ones. Bulgaria has been voted the UK's favourite holiday
hot spot by First Choice, and the Association of British Travel Agents expects UK
visitor numbers to have reached 200,000 this year. The cheap prices mean it is ideal
for holiday home buyers or investors with limited budgets. But when Bulgaria joins
the EU in 2007, second home owners can expect the value of their properties to soar.
According to a report by real estate investment adviser Property Frontiers and
quoted by Assetz, the group of property investment companies, Bulgaria is one of the
most rapidly advancing nations in Europe in terms of international property investment.
The report reveals that there was an average property price increase of 47.5
per cent in 2004 while growth in the first quarter of 2005 continued to be strong at
10.6 per cent.
Specific areas of property interest include the mountain and coastal regions with ski
resorts and traditional beach holidays becoming more popular each year. There is
also an emphasis on golf resorts and spa health centers at the moment and Property
Frontiers suggests that these areas can provide year-round rental potential.
Gambling
Although gambling has not been specifically defined as a type of tourism by the
Tourism Act, it should be noted that in recent years many hotels in Bulgaria have
added casinos to their offers. Most of the major hotels in Sofia and on the Black Sea
coast have casinos, too, incl. Princess Hotel, Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan, Grand Hotel
Bulgaria, Radisson SAS, and Hemus Hotel in Sofia; Astera Casino Hotel and Havana
Hotel in Golden Sands resort; Bulgaria Hotel in Burgas; Grand Hotel Varna in
St. Elias complex (St. St. Constantine & Helena resort); Bulgaria Hotel and Trimontium
Princess Hotel in Plovdiv. Organized groups from Israel, Russia and some other
countries are frequent visitors to these facilities.
Spanish Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in Sofia 58