1,500,000 Leva everyday from 15,000 tourists in Bansko winter resort

1, 500, 000 Bulgarian Leva was spent by 15, 000 tourists in Bansko everyday before New Year! Every hotel facility in the city was 100% occupied, the winter Season 2009/2010 seems to be more successful than last year, said with satisfaction, Mayor Alexander Kravarov.

Currently, the winter resort in Bulgaria is dominated firstly by Russians, Serbians and Macedonians. Christmas and New Year was occupied with Bulgarians, Romanians and British. Greeks came mainly on weekends, but they were of tens of thousands. The pistes were very well prepared and are open despite the warm weather, we offer the best conditions in Bulgaria, said the Mayor.

The statistics show that each tourist spent from 80 to 100 Leva a day. The transport booth was catering for 2, 400 tourists per hour while 1, 000 cars each day embarked on the path to the meadow of the Bunderishka and Shiligarnika areas. The only problem is the queues before the lift station which at peak hours reached a queue length of 200 meters.

The cashier at the parking lot for the cars, Maria Radoykova added that on average, around 500 cars pay 8 Leva a day.

With over 100, 000, 000 Leva, which the tourists will spend in Bansko during the winter season, the town became the locomotive business in the Pirin region, especially during the peak of the crisis. The largest winter resort in Bulgaria is a magnet for fresh revenue from abroad.

A second cabin urgently needs to built in order to prevent queues of skiers. The expansion of the queue area can on take placing on the old piste "Black Mound", which stands unused since the year 1986, with double-chair lift. This can solve the problem. Bansko Municipality and the concessionaire company Yulen have to submit a pre-project and a financial plan for the second booth. They only need the goodwill and consent of the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Minister of Environment and Water Nona Karadjova for plans to go ahead. They must urgently pass a procedure under the Protected Areas Act and the new station could be ready by the end of 2011. It will be implemented with minimal logging, with the municipality committing themselves to replace any one tree that has to be cut down by two new planted trees, the mayor noted.

Dobrinishte also attracts many tourists there and the facilities and pistes work, but if they are to develop the town as an auxiliary resort they should begin implementation of the ski area, as this will also attract Bansko tourists. The biggest winter resort in Bulgaria doesn't have any issue with unemployment in the area. Over 600 staff are employed by Yulen, around 2000 people working as support staff in hotels, as there is even a shortage of waitresses, bartenders and chambermaids. Indicative of the increase in tourists compared to last year is the consumption of electricity and water. Consumption is 36 megawatts, which accounts for the season in Bansko, 32 was last year, but only 14-15 megawatts were spent in 2007/2008 so it is with water consumption of 50-60 liters per second has now almost doubled.

During the holidays there was a rich cultural programme organized for the guests, over 3000 visitors on the square were watching fireworks and enjoying the kukurskiya Festival. I want to thank the guards and on the slopes, the Mountain Rescue Service, whose officers were at an extremely high level and respond to 15 – 16 signals per day, concluded the Mayor.