Bulgaria Ski discussion board

As Pamporovo becomes more and more popular, the demand for accomodation and things to do apart from skiing become ever greater.

Next season should see some major changes in Pamporovo to cope with the volume of tourists now wishing to visit 'our quiet little hideaway' in the mountains.

Already under construction is the new 5 star Sokolets Hotel which will be a sister hotel to The Perelik. Over 20 million Leva will be invested in improving facilities which will include a new 5 km ski run, a new 4 man cable car which will greatly improve the access to the slopes. The cable car will be manufactured and installed by the Austrian company Doppelmayer who are seen a one of the finest engineering companies in this line of business in the world.

Other plan include more hotels, resturants, and entertainment facilities, and to raise the number of beds in resort from 6,000 to 18,000.

Personally I'm not sure if the resort can accomodate such optimistic changes and an extra 5km run seems far to little in order to satisfy the needs of an extra 12,000 people in the resort at any one time.

There are still talks of a lift system to link Chepalare to Pamprovo, which would open up the area substantially, and in order not to completely choke the area, this I think is a must.

Will let you know more during the summer months as things develop. None of the above will be in position for this season.

PP

Large bulgarian and ukraine builders also moving into the ski resorts to build apartment blocks for brits to buy and make their millions as smart property investors Dinevi just built the Monastry in pamps and I understand have more planned for the area. Look at what has happened to Sunny Beach. Give it a few years and St Vlas will be joined to Suuny Beach right through to Sozopol. Let hope this desire to make money does not spoil the beauty of pamps and drive the tourists away altogether as the prices get pushed towards those in France, Austria etc.

Hi PP
Having seen the building site that is Bansko with construction planned that will bring the accomadation available up to near 20,000 beds i can understand where
westy is coming from..
As to whether it will spoil the beauty of the area i dont know. Most of the new developments are being built in character and to a maximum of four floors.
With the fact that it borders a national park expansion will be limited to the valley
surrounding the old town.
All this development does bring some benefits, the expansion and upgrade of the ski area which in Bansko could be massive, lets hope as westy commented that
the prices still remain sensible, that is the cost of living (beer,food fags etc)
I feel the property explosion will settle down, effectively the bubble will burst as
prices reach unrealistic highs especially as the developments reach completion and the market is flooded with apartments by speculative buyers who are trying to off load...
It is only my opinion, sorry to go on...

steve c

The sad thing is that the explosion in prices will make the local houses very expensive for the people that need them - the local bulgarians. We are all guilty because we choose an area because of its beauty and investment opportunities and spoil the local culture/way of life that drew us there in the first place.
If only british governments could manage our economy and perserve some of the taxes for our old age we would not be chasing around the world looking to top up our crap pension prospects.Getting a bit deep here. have a and chill.
cheers
westy

I know what you are saying westy..
I live in the westcountry and have seen the influx of house hunters either for retirement or holiday in my hometown. The prices have been escalating for the past few years to a level now that local people can no longer afford to buy because of their low wage. I suppose i am no better buying in BG but my reasons are not purely financial, i love skiing (a problem in the westcountry, beach yes
mountains no) and my intentions are to spend the winters there, hopefully
establish a business that ultimately will be employing Bulgarians which in turn
should give something back to the local community in the way of employment.
Re. the British goverment and pensions, i gave up and chilled ages ago

i`ll have that beer now cheers

steve c