site.btaPamporovo Ski Resort not Affected by Russia, Ukraine Crisis, Resort's Executive Director Says

Pamporovo Ski Resort not Affected by Russia, Ukraine Crisis, Resort's Executive Director Says


Smolyan, Southern Bulgaria, January 5 (BTA) - The crisis
stemming from the developoments in Russia and Ukraine does not
have a significant impact on the Pamporovo ski resort, said
Pamporovo AD Executive Director Marian Belyakov. The resort is
expecting some 80 per cent less Russian groups this season, but
this will be compensated by an increase in the number of
tourists from Balkan countries. Ukrainian tourists will start
arriving in Pamporovo in January and a season-round service
programme starts for Ukrainian tourist groups for the first time
 in ten years.

New Year was celebrated in Pamporovo by Bulgarian, British,
Turkish, Greek, Serbian, Macedonian and Romanian tourists, the
ski resort reported.

The number of Greek tourists in Pamporovo has increased almost
fivefold this winter and their presence was very noticeable
around Christmas. The heightened interest in the resort observed
 on the Turkish market comes mainly from large cities and is
expected to continue this winter season. Hotel owners'
projections are about a 15 per cent increase in the number of
tourists from Turkey. Charter flights with Turkish tourists
start in January.

Hotel owners from Smolyan region reported an influx of tourists
during the Christmas and New Year holidays, who stayed at
resorts as well as rural tourism destinations. Hotels reported
an occupancy rate of around 100 per cent during the winter
break.

Around fifty per cent of those who celebrated Christmas in
Zlatograd were Greeks. Local hotels reported that they
accommodated many tourists from the neighbouring Greek region
across the border.

Mountain guide and tourism teacher, Snezhana Orlova, said that
the all inclusive packages offered by large hotels in the
resorts have attracted many Bulgarian families to spend their
New Year there. According to her, small rural hotels in the
mountains still remain the destination of choice for Bulgarian
tourists.
   
Approximately 70 per cent of hotel clients in the region, who
came in the Christmas and New Year holidays, are not part of
organized tourist groups, Orlova explained. There is an increase
 in the number of online reservations, while hotel owners
themselves have shown a preference to advertise on social
networks and websites, she added.