site.btaSki Season Begins in Pamporovo

Ski Season Begins in Pamporovo

Smolyan, Southern Bulgaria, December 19 (BTA) - The new ski season in the Pamporovo resort was opened officially with a snow festival on Saturday. The day offered good conditions for skiers on six runs in the area.

Youth and Sports Minister Krassen Kralev was among the guests at the grand opening. He said his ministry wants to build a year-round sport training facility at Pamporovo.

During a very successful season in 2014/2015, the resort's ski area welcomed 200,000 visitors, Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva said. Back then, Pamporovo's hotels recorded 73,000 overnights spent by visitors, 77 per cent of whom were Bulgarians. Another 40,000 people visited the place between April and October 2015.

Forecasts show that the new ski season will be successful as well, with hotels likely to achieve an occupancy rate of around 70 per cent as they welcome holiday-makers from Greece, Turkey, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Romania, Macedonia and Moldova, Georgieva said. The visa requirement for Turkish tourists is being relaxed, she said, expressing hope that Turkish visitors will increase this winter.

The resort has invested in an extension of its snow-making system. A new quadruple-chair lift will go into operation this winter.