More than 20 Bulgarian cellars will take part at the first issue of the wine and tourism expo Vinotour, which takes place in Varna from 23.04 till 26.04.2008.

The exhibition will be a crossing point of the wine producers and the tour operators, hotels and restaurant managers to discuss the wine market for tourist season 2008 and the future of the wine producing and tourism in Bulgaria. The main organizer of the exhibition, Lambrin Sotirov, said that the Vinotour expo is an excellent opportunity for the beginning of the first wine tours for the 2008 tourist season.

The wine tasting at each stand will be free and there won’t be an entrance tax. 350 official guests are invited at the opening.
The connoisseurs could enjoy the navy brass orchestra. The ceremony will start with a health and the mayor of Varna, Kiril Yordanov hit the gong in “Old Varna” cellar. There will be a presentation of French and Austrian wines and special photo exhibition will show the development of the Bulgarian wine growing and wine producing traditions.

Bulgaria’s State Agency for Tourism have finalised the national strategy for sustainable development of tourism in Bulgaria between 2008 and 2013.

The strategy identifies several selling points of Bulgaria as a tourist destination, including; a beautiful environment; a relatively safe destination; the hospitality of the local population; new or renovated tourist accommodations; good price-quality ratio and regulation of the tourism business. It also identifies the weak points which the strategy aims to address and improve.

The four strategic goals of the strategy are positioning Bulgaria as a tourist destination for richer tourists; improved competitiveness and efficiency of the sector by using natural landmarks and human resources; improvement of the infrastructure and implementation of international standards including best European practices.

The summer tourist season will be officially opened on May 9, State Agency for Tourism head Anelia Kroushkova said on April 14.
"An increasing number of hotel owners are looking to open for business as early as possible to take advantage of the warm weather," Kroushkova told Focus news agency.

With May 1 and May 9 being official holidays in Russia, Bulgarian hotels are targeting Russian tourists at the start of the season. "We should make sure that we attract Russian tourist as early as May, because they have several days off in a row," Kroushkova said.
Romanians, Macedonians and Serbs are also expected to flock to Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts, she added.

The official opening would be held in St. Konstantin and Elena resort, which would celebrate its 100 anniversary in 2008.
The resort had sprung up around a monastery with the same name. It had managed to preserve its originality and to get under control the over-construction, which was the main problem of the other resorts, Kroushkova said. That was why the resort deserved being commemorated with the opeeing of the summer season, she said.

Bulgarian State Agency of Tourism (SAT) starts an intensive advertisement campaign of Bulgaria as a tourism destination throughout whole Russian federation.
The campaign is supported by 4 30-second advertisement clips which will be emitted by the national Russian television and leading TV channels in more than 20 big Russian cities from 18 to 29 February.

The clips present Bulgaria as a tourist destination with opportunities of many different kinds of tourism, as the accent falls on the summer and the sea, where is focused the biggest interest of the Russian tourists towards Bulgaria.

The clips also show the nature beauties of Bulgaria, the opportunities of round trips and culture destinations, SPA, yacht tourism, entertainments for the youth audience.

The advertising campaign will be repeated between 5 and 25 May this year.

SAT plans to start advertising campaigns of Bulgarian tourism also on Eurosport, Euronews and CNN channels.

The Bulgarian Black Sea coast is the fifth most popular tourist destination among German holiday-makers, according to a poll conducted among 1,200 travel agents by the Urlaub Perfekt publication. The country scores well on affordability and family-friendliness but trails the competition in terms of customer service and quality of accommodation. The poll is topped by Spain, followed by Turkey, Greece and Egypt.

***Merry Christmas*** and warm holiday wishes from our team!

We're wishing you a Christmas
Full of laughter, love and light,
With delicious holiday foods
To excite your appetite.

We're hoping you receive
Delightful gifts to make you smile,
With family and friends
To love you all the while.

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
May your Christmas dreams come true,
And when Christmas is over,
Happy New Year, too!

Year 2007 was more than successful for ‘Cherno more briz’ (Black Sea breeze) yachting club.
The club's competitors won more than 100 prizes in the year.
The windsurfers won 21 medals on state competitions and 12 on Cup of Bulgaria.
The competitors took part in all regattas organized by Bulgarian Yachting federation.

The most successful competitor of 2007 is Pepa Mavrodieva who will take part in five more regattas until the Olympics in Peking.

On August 5, next year the club organizes World Championship on Yachting for competitors older than 35 years in Class 470.

Meanwhile was announced that three Bulgarians will compete on the coming World Windsurf Championship in New Zealand.

A charter service between Balaton and Bulgaria is to be launched next summer, FlyBalaton airport in Sármellék, on the western edge of the lake, has announced.

Hungarian tour operator Robinson Tours will start its first charter flight from FlyBalaton to Bourgas on June 18 2008, bringing Bulgaria's most popular beach resorts (including Sveti Vlas, Sunny beach, Nessebar, Sozopol etc) within reach of a one-and-a-half-hour flight, the Budapest Sun reported.

The local Hotel Investment company has launched a new hotel in Varna, on the Black Sea, which will target affluent Western travellers.

mOdus hotel has 35 rooms and a 30-seat conference room. Hotel Investment said it will manage the 1.5 mln euro hotel but did not rule out the possibility that it may join one of the international hotel chains that have entered the Bulgarian market.

Hotel Investment said it plans to add over the medium-term more hotels under the mOdus brand with possible locations in Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas.

To book rooms in mOdus Hotel, please click here!
To book hotels in Varna, please search the left menu!

Over the first seven months of the year, the foreign tourists spent 1.347 billion euro in Bulgaria, which is by sixteen percent more than they spent during the same period of 2006.

Four million foreign tourists chose to spend their holidays in Bulgaria this season, the majority of them being from Romania - about 540,000 people, followed in number by the guests from Greece, Germany and Great Britain.

The Bulgarians spent abroad 727 million euro, which is by 15,36% more compared to the money they spent last year. The Bulgarians' favorite holiday destinations are Greece and Turkey.

Dental tourism is an increasing trend with more and more Britons, who combine a holiday to Bulgaria's Black Sea coast with a visit to the dentist.

Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Thailand are cashing in from a growing number of Britons who cannot get treatment on the NHS or cannot afford to pay huge bills for going private, the Finance Market online edition reported.

The medical search engine, revahealthnetwork.com, has revealed that 35,000 Britons a year travel overseas for dental work and nearly 60,000 searched online for information on dentists.

The company declared that Britons can save up to 70% by travelling overseas for dental treatment - before accommodation and flights are taken into account.

Bulgaria is a preferred destination due to the low-cost, high-quality dental care. Prices that local dentists charge are about seven times lower than those in Great Britain.

Sweltering Bulgaria is in for another day of sizzling heat as temperatures are expected to hover near record highs on Friday.
Weathermen predict highs of between 34-40C across the country and in the capital Sofia the mercury will zoom up to 36C.

The only safe haven from the heat will be the beaches along the Black Sea coast, where highs will range from 29C to 32C.
The weekend and the beginning of next week will bring a much-awaited respite from the heat with scattered rain showers in western and central Bulgaria.

Temperatures will sharply drop at the beginning of September, when highs are seen at 22-27C.

Predominantly sunny and warm today, highs ranging from 30 to 35 °C, in Sofia - 30 °C. In the afternoon clouds will thicken and in the evening showers and thunders are likely over northwestern Bulgaria and in the mountains. Sunny along the Black Sea coast. The southeasterly wind will slightly lower temperatures to 28-29 °C. Seawater temperatures will be 24-26 °C.

The heat wave that has recently swept Bulgaria is to stay in August but the sweltering residents will have the opportunity to enjoy also drizzles, meteorologists reported Saturday.
The rains will be heavier in the middle of the hot summer month as well as at its end.
The weather will get wetter and cooler since the beginning of September.
Nevertheless, the period until the end of October will provide warm weather and the temperatures are to be higher than the normal for the autumn season.

Cooler atmosphere front will pass through the Balkans and temperatures will get lower to the usual for the season.

In Eastern Bulgaria the maximal temperatures will be high - 38-43 degrees Centigrade, in Western Bulgaria - 32-37 degrees Centigrade.

Meteorologists promise that in Sofia region temperatures will fall down with at least 10 degrees, which makes the max 32 degrees Centigrade.

In the Black Sea region the weather will be hot and sunny. No rainfalls are expected over the Bulgarian territory.

Yesterday were noticed temperature records in the all 43 meteorological stations - 40-45 degrees Centigrade.

The scorching heat continues to torture Bulgaria. Today and on Tuesday temperatures will continue rising and the highs are expected to reach the record 45 °C.
The good news is that on Wednesday the wind will bring cooler air from the Atlantic, according to meteorologist Petar Yankov. The extreme heat in the last few days has been caused by air masses from Africa that have swept into Bulgaria. Yesterday in Sofia highs reached 36°C, in Pleven the record of 1980 (38.7) was beaten by 2 °C.
Another temperature record was measured in Novo Selo on the Danube - 40.5°C. It was the hottest in Veliko Tarnovo and Vidin - 40°C. In Rousse on the Danube highs reached 40.2°C.

At the end of June, the Bulgarian yacht importer Yachting Bularia exhibited boats at the port in Sozopol Black Sea resort. The most expensive one was sold for 3.6 million leva on June 23.
One of the yachts Atlantis 55, was sold to a Bulgarian businessman for 2,25 million lv, and Azimut 43 for 1.4 million leva, to a construction entrepreneur. Yachting.bg is one of the three biggest yachts traders in Europe, reported Bulgarian news agency BTA.
The yacht show was the first of its kind in Bulgaria and the company also presented the Bavaria, Chaparral 276 SSX and Frauscher yachts. Yachting Bulgaria is the exclusive representative of these types of yachts for Bulgaria and Romania.
Following this event, during a meeting of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) with seaside beach concessionaires in Sunny Beach on July 6, Bourgas region deputy governor Georgi Nikolchev said that a new regulation on sailing and the border system of the Bulgarian area of the Black Sea was being prepared. The document will regulate the movements of all yachts and boats used for sport and tourism. During the meeting, CPC representatives and the beach concessionaires also discussed safety services offered on the beaches. According to Bourgas regional CPC directorate chief Nikolay Stoykov, there was widespread interest in the subject, given that more than two thirds of the beach managers attended the meeting.
On July 2, Bulgarian language Investor BG reported that Dutch investors are planning to build a marina in another Black sea settlement, Byala. The development is part of a new Dutch-Norwegian holiday village planned for the coast. Until the construction is ready, the Dutch investors had reportedly been ready with equipment that was able to accommodate 25 to 30 yachts at the marina site.
Byala mayor Ilian Tsonev said the biggest problem facing a future marina in the town was ownership. According to him, these developments have to remain municipal property, even through pubic-private partnerships, so that it is easier for the regulations to be met when building a marina for small boats. In his opinion, this is a factor currently restricting tourism in this area.
Byala had a licence to build a marina and fishing port but the municipality needed two million leva to construct it.
On July 2, Bulgarian language Dnevnik reported that the Tsarevo, Pomorie and Achtopol municipalities are to create mixed companies with investors who will construct marinas in the three seaside towns. This was said by the mayors at a meeting with the Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev.
After a proposal by Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), the ports became municipal property through the amendments to the Port Act. However the ports in Sozopol and Nessebar remained on the list of those for which the state will look for concessionaires.
Mutafchief said the decision provides opportunities for extra income in the municipalities and creates suitable conditions for the development of yacht tourism. He said the MTC will give the ports municipal-private statute after it is clear that the development projects are fulfilled.
The plans for Pomorie are for the construction of an international marina with two zones. There will be a second embankment and entertainment points. To realise 70 per cent of the project the municipality needs eight million leva and is now looking at different possibility for finance. Pomorie mayor Petur Zlatanov said businessmen from Finland and St. Petersburg were interested in mooring their yachts at Pomorie.
Tsarevo major Petko Arnaudov said he intended to develop the local harbour as a port for yachts, passengers and fishing. Currently about 30 yachts in Tsarevo are anchored. Some Italian investors and investors from Monaco have expressed interest in the port.

The sea resorts in Bulgaria and Greece are the most attractive tourist destinations for the Romanians, local tour operators' survey shows.

The number of the Romanian tourist, who will enjoy holidays in Bulgaria and Greece, has doubled.

Turkey ranks third in the ranking of the most preferable summer destinations among the Romanian holidaymakers.

More than one million Romanians plan to spend their vacations abroad in summer 2007.

German, Frenchmen, Japanese and US citizens are the tourists, who most often chose to have a rest in the Romanian seaside resorts, helping the incomes from tourism activities in the country reach EUR 1 B annually.

Record temperatures were registered yesterday in seven Bulgarian cities, including the capital.
The highest temperature was recorded in the Black Sea city of Bourgas, where the thermometer showed 42 °C at 03:00 p.m. In Sofia, temperatures reached the record 36 °C.
The previous highest temperatures ever recorded in the capital was in 1982, when the highs reached 35 °C. The situation was similar in Bulgaria\'s second biggest city of Plovdiv. There, temperatures reached 39 °C for the first time since 1980. Temperatures went even higher in central and northern Bulgaria. There, meteorologists measured 39 °C in Pleven and over 40 °C in Veliko Tarnovo.

Luckily, according to forecasts made by TV Met meteorologists the heat wave will began to cool down as of today. The highs in northern Bulgaria will be from 33 °C to 38 °C.

Forecast for Friday and Saturday promises for the average 27 degrees Celsius. During the weekend, showers are likely to fall in western Bulgaria.

Temperature hikes in Bulgaria will continue on June 26, expected to be the hottest day of June until now.

Thermometres will show as much as 36 to 41 degrees Celsius in various parts of the country, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences meteorology institute representatives said.

Danube River valley will see the highest temperatures. On June 24, meteorologists registered 34.5 degrees Celsius in the town of Dobrich.

Previously, the highest temperature on June 24 reached 33.2 degrees Celsius.

The entire Balkan region has been affected by the heat wave, Focus news agency reported.

Bulgarians and visitors to the country are in for a scorcher at the last two weeks of June as the mercury is expected to zoom up to 40°C.

The month will end with beautiful summer weather after the torrential rains that flooded the whole country. Yet drizzles are still not ruled out.

There will be light wind along the Black Sea coast, where the temperature of the water is expected to reach more than 20° C not earlier than the end of the month.

The atmosphere on the Balkans will continue to stabilize.

Bulgaria had great potential to develop yachting, yacht and motor boats producer Sunseeker said.
Chartering improvement is a good possibility for Bulgaria to develop yachting as additional tourism service at Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, as few people in Bulgaria could afford yachts.

Croatia successfully benefits from chartered yachts. More than 2000 yachts of all types are offered for rent in the country for various periods. Prices vary from 1000 euro per month to 100 000 euro per week, Sunseeker said as quoted by investor.bg.

According to Bulgarian Sailing Federation deputy head Rossen Marangozov such idea was currently hardly executable in Bulgaria.

Living standard in the country gave few possibilities for purchase, as well as for renting yachts, he said. Tourists preferred short trips in yachts instead.

* Photo by Sunseeker Bulgaria!

Members of Parliament approved on second reading the Black Sea Coast Spatial Development Bill on June 1.
The bill envisions the creation of two coastal zones. Zone A encompasses 100m of the shore. All types of construction will be banned in this area.

Ban would not affect construction projects that have been completed or that have already received a permit.
Illegally constructed buildings will be demolished within a month after the bill is enforced.
According to the project creators, new regulations are needed to meet European and international environment preservation and spatial development criteria.
The bill also envisions fines for individuals limiting free access to the coastline.
Some MPs said that they opposed the bill. Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) member Evgeni Chachev said that the bill would cause a number of problems related to the development of the coastal region.

The highest temperatures in June will vary between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. The temperatures at the Black Sea Coast will reach 27, according to the month weather prognosis of the meteorologists from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The average temperature of the sea water will be around 20 degrees Celsius; keeping in mind the water temperature at the South Black Seaside may be hotter.

The average temperature for June is expected to be in the norm for the month, which is 19 degrees Celsius at the North Seaside and 20 at the South Seaside.
This definitely means good holiday weather, sunny and appropriate for sunbaths and swimming.

At least 3000 lifeguards will be responsible for the security of tourists in Bulgaria's coastal resorts during summer season 2007.

Nearly 12000 lifeguards underwent training in 2006. Out of them 300 will work at seaside beaches and the rest will be responsible for swimming pools in the resorts.

The number of lifeguards to be employed this summer depends on the number of pools that will be functioning and on the number of beaches.

Swimming in all water basins that are not under lifeguard supervision will be prohibited.

Some problems will appear in the beginning of the season since the majority of lifeguards are young and lack experience. A number of them still study and will have exams in the beginning of the season, which can lead to staff shortage.

The beginning of May will bring Bulgaria sunny weather and high temperatures, meteorologists said.
In May, temperatures will reach the expected values for the season and rainfall will remain insignificant.
Most Bulgarian cities will see temperatures of up to 28 degrees Celsius, meteorologist Latin Latinov said.

Rainfall above the average levels is expected in only few areas. Downpours can be expected on May 6 and 13, Latinov said.

In the final 10 days of the month, the weather conditions will be unstable and changeable. Yet, temperatures will remain high. Sea water will reach temperatures of 18 to 20 degrees Celsius by the end of the month, Latinov said.

The Foreign Ministers of the countries members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization will sign a treaty for the building of a highway around the sea.

The cooperation agreement allowing the highway's construction has been signed yesterday in Belgrade, ITAR-TASS has reported.

Once built, the highway will be shaped like a ring around the Black Sea, connecting all the countries in the region.

BSEC was created in 1992 by eleven countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Sunny Beach Ltd started preparing the Black Sea resort for the upcoming summer season.

Initial efforts will focus on the repair of coastal alleys which have been severely damaged, the company's CEO Malina Stratieva said.

The alleys will be ready by May 1, Dnevnik daily reported.

Sunny Beach municipality has to deal with unfinished construction works which also have to be completed by May 1. It is most important to provide conditions for clean work rather than to stop construction completely, Stratieva said.

The new season in the resort is to be launched in the beginning of June.

Sunny Beach Ltd has already arranged green areas development along the entire bike alley surrounding the complex.

A camera surveillance system will provide constant observation of all sidewalks, roads and crowded places such as clubs, restaurants and entertainment areas. Surveillance will later include larger areas near hotels and smaller alleys.

The summer season for tourists in Bulgaria will kick off on April 20, month and a half earlier as compared to previous years, officials surprisingly announced.

"This is the first time ever that the summer season is given the go-ahead that early," Aneliya Krushkova, head of the State Tourism Agency, told Darik News.

Official estimates forecast a 6.4% rise in the number of foreign tourists coming to Bulgaria this summer year upon year, mainly thanks to the great interest of Russian tourists.

According to Krushkova the tourism sector will record a boost in revenues this year, capitalizing namely on the higher number of Russian tourists.

She dismissed as ungrounded fears that improper management of resources and poor strategy drag Bulgaria down to the club of the cheapest tourist destinations in Europe.

Low cost carrier Germanwings said it is offering from Mar 26 promotional return air fares of 47 to 97 euro (with airport charges) for its Sofia-Cologne route.

Passengers are also eligible for hotels rates of 29 euro per night in Cologne, Berlin or Duesseldorf.

The carrier will launch flights from Berlin to Bulgarian Black Sea towns Burgas and Varna from mid-May.

The Austrian Airlines last week announced promotional fares for its service from Vienna to Burgas and Varna if seats are booked 21 days in advance.

Sofia-Rome is emerging as another hotly contested route currently being serviced by Alitalia, Bulgaria Air and budget carriers Wizz Air and MyAir.

For more information on flights to Bulgaria, please click here!

5 158 000 tourists visited Bulgaria in 2006, an all time-high, experts say, bringing some 2 billion euros in profit to the sector.

This was announced by the deputy chairperson of the State Tourism Agency, Stanislav Novakov at the opening of the Culture Days in Stuttgart. This is a part of a massive campaign to introduce Bulgaria, the new member in the EU, at the Caravan-Motor-Tourism fair in Stuttgart.

There are 17 billboards on key locations in the city with advertisements of the country. A short advertisement of 45 seconds is played in underground stations around 100 times a day.

There are two more advertisements on buses leading to the fair and in the vicinity, Mr Novakov boosted. Our country is presented as a modern and dynamic holiday destination attracting millions of people year round and especially in winter and summer. There are also many spa resorts, golf fields, eco- and cultural tourism attractions.

Neshka Robeva, the renowned rhythmic gymnastics coach, was invited in Stuttgart\'s city hall to show her \"Armies\" spectacle, which was impressive according to locals and the audience applauded her for several minutes.

People in Bulgaria experienced their warmest January 10 on record this year.
The mild weather that has been sweeping Bulgaria for weeks already reached a peak in the town of Vidin, temeratures zoomed up to the record-high 18,2 C. The latest record on this date was registered in 1992, when the temperature reached 16,5 C. Temperatures in the town of Pleven beat the record from 1998, topping 16,5 C. The seaside also registered hot weather as if the summer season has not finished yet.

BeachBulgaria.com team wishes you, our friends, Black Sea coast fans and forum posters a lot of health, smiles and success!
Be happy, optimistic and sunny!
Let this year be wealthy, rich of love and dreams come true.
Best wishes: BeachBulgaria team!

On January,1st 2007 at 01 o’clock local time and 00 o’clock Brussels time Bulgaria officially became a full member of the European Union. This marked the end of the fifth round of enlargement of the EU and the new beginning for the new coming country.
The affiliate of Bulgaria in the EU was accompanied with spectacular celebrations. The traditional New Year concert at “Batenberg” square was completed by unique lightning show, created by the stage designer Germ Hoff. Right at midnight, when the New Year sent of the past one, the marvelous colorful rays connected Sofia with Bucharest and Brussels by implication.

The official celebrations went on during the day. In front of the monument of the Unknown Soldier at “St. Alexander Nevski” square the Bulgarian and European flags were raised in state. The president of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov, the Prime – Minister Sergei Stanishev and other representatives of the Bulgarian government were at the event. The chairman of the European parliament Jose Manuel Barroso and the Euro commissar Oli Ren were among the official guests.


Hundreds of Romanians and Bulgarians crossed the “Danube Bridge” to visit the neighbor country.
This was the way that the municipality of the two new European countries, Rouse and Giurgevo, marked their membership in EU. There was free bus transport for everyone who wanted to step on the other side of the river and to see the neighbor town.

The custom officers at the boundary near Silistra putted away the custom barrier formally at the frontier post. Its destiny was followed by the barrier at the frontier post “Kulata” at the Greece boundary.

On the 2 of January a concert of Church - Slavonic chant took place in Balanova house in Plovdiv and a ski run competition took place in Sofia on a specially designed artificial piste in the centre of the city in front of the palace.

Between 40 and 50 EUR per hour will be the underwater walk in the Black Sea, compared to 185 EUR per hour for a diving experience in Indonesia.
The Caribbean’s can offer diving adventures amongst beautiful corals and fishes, but Bulgarian Black Sea is hiding real treasures of sunken vessels. At the Diving Forum of Varna this year the Bulgarian Diving Association stated that 90 % of the ships, absorbed by the sea have not been found at all. The greatest amount of finds is considered to be located in the leeward part of Kaliakra Cape. During the 60-s some divers found unique sunken treasures there, while looking for a fallen Mig-17 plane. Some old sewing machines were found near Sozopol, in a sunken Morgen ship in 1922.
The research expeditions do require good funds though. If those are put into diving researches and tourism adventure diving, the Black Sea will gain a new niche of tourism and will attract many visitors worldwide.

A slew of new projects for vacation villages, hotels and condo communities bunched up along Bulgaria's southern Black Sea coast were presented at the Imoti Expo 2006 property fair that ended in Sofia last week.
After packing with property the Sunny Beach and Golden Sands reports on the northern coastline, the developers are now flocking south where the hottest destinations for new real estate are the village of Lozenets and the town of Tsarevo.
Aspi Group showcased at the exhibition the Regina Mare apartment complex near Tsarevo. The property, comprising of apartments ranging between 40 and 120 sq m, should be ready by June 2007.
Longservices SRE, a consortium of Bulgarian, Italian and Swiss entrepreneurs, is developing properties in Lozenets, Tsarevo, Ahtopol and Varvara and is ready with the conceptual design for a development in Kiten.
The Lozenets Beach condo complex, comprising 120 units, should be completed by 2008. The company is investing in a second, smaller condo complex also in Lozenets. The Bay View complex in Tsarevo will have built-up area of 12,000 sq m and should be finished in time for the 2007 summer season. Sea Panorama is a Longservices SRE development sited near the town of Kiten.
Property developer Home for You is completing the first stage of the Oasis vacation community near Lozenets. The company said it has bought up adjacent plots to add a further 100 units to the complex in 2007.
Investors are not neglecting Bulgaria's ski resorts either.
Over a 100 new properties are in development in ski resort Pamporovo. Ecoinvest is one of the companies making progress on their projects in the resort. Its 65-unit Nevyastata condo complex should be ready by the end of 2007. The 7,000 sq m complex will cost over 2 mln euro.
VIP Building is developing the 300-unit Dream Lake complex in the resort which should be ready in late 2008.
The inaugural project of Irish investment company Kendar will be a 333-unit condo complex near the golf course in Razlog. Construction is due to kick off in early 2007.
Another property envisaged for the area of the Razlog golf course is the 140-apartment complex Imperial Golf Club. The 16,000 sq m property is the maiden ski resort investment of local company Imperial Build

Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts have received nearly 1.5 million foreign tourists for the 2006 summer season, shows a survey of the Analysis of Tourism Institute.
The numbers were announced at the tourism forum "Bulgaria's Mountains".
Rough calculations show the income from foreign tourists' visits for the summer season is about EUR 600 M.
Bulgaria has scored a 8.3 % increase of the number of foreign tourist and a 4.6 % growth of income from tourism for the last year.

The head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed the peoples and authorities of both Bulgaria and Romania for their efforts to meet the requirements for membership in the EU.
He announced the official approval of both countries in the organization. The conclusion of the commission is that Bulgaria and Rumania are ready to take on the rights and obligations for EU membership.
In May 2006 the Commission considered that "Bulgaria and Romania should be prepared for EU membership on 1 January 2007, provided that they address a number of outstanding issues." Mr Barroso marked that since then both countries have made far reaching efforts and addressed many of the challenges. He added that the support for the accession date is a result of “rigorous, fair and objective assessment”. Barroso said that until accession and beyond that the European Commission will apply a mechanism of cooperation and monitoring on the continuous progress achieved by both states in some particular areas.
The successful fifth enlargement opens new opportunities for the development of the Union. Yet the report proposes some safeguard measures that would help keep both countries on the right track and guarantee that EU taxpayers' money is spent rightfully – said Olli Rehn. The Commissioner said that both Bulgaria and Romania will enrich the Union without discrediting the functioning of its institutions.
Even before the accession of Bulgaria in the union, the country proved as a popular tourism destination. The huge investments in the tourism sector lead to the improvement of the quality of services and turned Bulgaria into a preferred holiday destination for many European citizens.

Hotel discounts rivalry is gaining ground along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast as the end of the summer season is drawing nearer.
Visitors will have the chance to enjoy the sun and the sea at reduced prices as of September 1, the management of the major Bulgarian resorts announced.
Expected flattish bookings in September have set discounts ranging from 15% to 40%.

The new prices at two-star hotels start at about BGN 13 per person but travelers prepared to dig deeper into their pockets can find more opulence and luxury in five-star hotels at the northern Golden Sands resort. The price for a room here will stand at about BGN 70. The resort will come up with an even more tempting offer in October - BGN 48 per bed at a five-star hotel.

Albena resort, situated only 30 km away from Bulgaria's sea capital Varna, also announced promotional 15% discount for accommodations at two-star hotels. The promotion came into force on August 28 and will be valid till September 15.

The Sunny Beach resort, the largest seaside resort on the Bulgarian Riviera, lowers prices at three-star hotels from BGN 57 to 37 as of September , and further down to BGN 28 as of September 16.

From 25th to 27th of August Kavarna will be a meeting place of all dare-devils doing the most risky hardcore actions you can imagine.
The first Extreme Sports Festival has been organized by Kavarna Municipality and internet extreme sports media. The visitors could watch parashutism and paragliding show, sea diving, bunjy jumping, yachting, alpinism climbing and many other thrilling demonstrations.
The participators will reach the top of Chirakman cape on bicycles and by Jeeps and they will go down with ropes. Others will climb the grain elevators in the town. The spectators could feel the extreme emotions too.
Most of the activities will take place on the beach of Kavarna.
The show pretends to become a Traditional Festival of the extreme sports clubs from all over the country.

The 4th International Short Film Festival “In the Palace” will take place in Balchik from 2nd to 9th of September. The Festival aims to popularize the film work of young Bulgarian and foreign artists.
There are 3 categories at the festival – feature, documentary and cartoon. The duration of the movies is up to 45 minutes. 1420 movies had sent their applications and 160 of them were chosen. There are participators from 48 countries including Australia, Austria, Azerbeidzhan, Great Britain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Grusia, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, India, Israel, Iran, China, USA, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Portuguese, Russia, Japane and etc. The movies will be estimated by the audience and by international jury. Traditionally one of the members of the jury is the last year winner.
There are two challenges for the participators. The first one is traditionally shooting a short film in 48 hours. The second one is to produce a clip on a social theme.
Hanif Kureishi, Kishor Verma from Great Britain, Tot Geza from Hungary and Lutz Garsmen from Germany are special guests and lecturers at the festival.
There will be a review of the modern Thailand cinema.

The traditional “Love is Folly” and “Golden Rose” film festivals will take place from 25th of August to 5th of September in Varna.
The International Film Fest “Love is Folly” starts from 25th of August and continues till the end of the month. 100 artists from all over the world are expected to arrive in Varna. The members of the jury are from Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. Bulgaria will be presented by “Time for women”, film of the director Ilia Kostov.
Tree new French films, one of them with the participation of Catherine Deneueve, will be projected. Some of the other titles are “You mean everything to Me” of the Serbian director Predrag Velinovitch, “Sperm or Love Story” from Spain, “Ask the Dust” from USA by the producer Tom Kruise with the participation of Colin Farel, Salma Hayek, Donald Sutherland.
For the first time there will be a review of the Modern Chinese Cinema at the festival. Five movies have been selected.
“Croaking of the Frogs” by Gunter Grass and directed by Robert Glinski will be presented with the cooperation of Poland Conculate in Varna.
This is the 14th edition of the International festival “Love is Folly” and the movies will be projected in Hall 1 of the Festival Congress Centre.
Immediately after the closing of “Love is Folly” the 27th edition of Bulgarian Film Festival “Golden Rose” starts. It will take place in “Plenarna” Hall of Varna municipality from 1st to 5th of September. About 8 new films are going to be projected.
The festival takes place each two years and this issue is dedicated to the famous Bulgarian director Binka Jeliazkova.

Albena Resort Celebrates its 37th Birthday. On 28th of March, 1968 the cabinet orders the building of new resort near by Balchik. After one year 9 hotels, 4 restaurants, 2 clubs and infrastructure were built there. On 24th of August, 1969 the resort was officially opened. The first tourists that had visited the complex were group of 72 young men from Czechoslovakia. In 1969, 8600 tourists spent the summer in Albena. About 6 million tourists from all over the world have visited the sea resort till this moment.
Today Albena is not only a tourist destination but also sport, festival and congress center. There are over 16 thousand people having a holyday in Albena now. The resort managers have invested almost 50 million BGN to renovate it. There are 10 four stars hotels now and 16 hotels are working by “all inclusive” system. Albena was the first resort that had introduced the on - line booking and it is a leader in this field in Bulgaria for second year.

One of the greatest Bulgarian folklore vocalists Nadka Karadzhova took the “Nestinarka” award at the 35-th International Folklore Festival Bourgas 2006. The prize is for the best performer of Bulgarian folklore songs.
Folklore ensembles from Japan, Portugal, Lithuania, Moldavian, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Georgia, Belarus and Bulgaria took part in the event this year. The International Folklore Festival continues to 26-th of August.

Philip Kirkorov will give a performance at Kaliakra stadium in Kavarna on the 4-th of September. The super star of the Russian pop music was born in Varna. He is coming in Bulgaria by invitation of Joker Media and Kavarna municipality. The tickets cost 15 BGN. The famous Bulgarian band Mastilo (Ink) will warm up the concert.

Bulgaria's coastal airports have undertaken different measures to ease the passengers' serving process.

The Transport Ministry announced that two additional desks have been opened at the Burgas Airport "International lines - Departure". The new desks are equipped with automatic check-in and the luggage system and the X-ray apparatus.

Part of the served passengers will be redirected to the second floor of the airport where they will be able to wait for their flight after passing the border and customs checks. The airport offers to the passengers improved conditions, the ministry explained.

A special passage to the "International lines - Arrival" terminal is also being constructed at the Burgas airport thus increasing the capacity of the two terminals by 30%. The investments in the terminals will reach BGN 1.2 M.

The northern Varna Airport is also being subjected to improvements. The passengers' zone is being expanded, thus increasing its efficiency by 40%. Five new check-in systems have also been fitted thus increasing their number to 18.

The luggage bands at the Varna Airport have been extended as well. A business salon has been readied for the passengers using the business class in the regular flights.

Both Burgas and Varna Airports take pride in improved parking lots.

The winners in a competition for visual design and functionality of a skyscraper to be built in the Black Sea city of Bourgas were announced on June 22.
With an equal number of votes and in the presence of a notary, the selection commission announced three favourites.
They are Atanas Panov from LP Consult Group, Professor Georgi Stoilov from the International Academy for Architecture and Professor M. Tatarini, representing two companies - LagOS and Architecture+.

The recognition of the public, however, went to the project by Architectonica Studio with chief architect Dimitar Paskalev and consultant Kalin Dikov. The project is for what has already become popularly known in Bourgas as “The Needle”.

Tests have shown that the Northern Beach of Bourgas is the most suitable for such a high building.
The skyscraper will be built on the place of the popular tavern Vodenitsata (The Mill), which is Stoinovski’s property.
One of the floors is intended for an exhibition hall, another for a museum. Swimming pools, gyms and spa facilities are also envisaged.

Riviera Holiday Club, on the Black Sea, boasts brand-new spa center, outfitted by equipment manufacturer Balnea, and beach bar.

The two facilities cost 3.3 mln levs and blend in with the resort's signature Mediterranean style. The resort plans no new construction after the completion of the Riviera Beach 1 and 2 hotels.

The sea side offers long beaches of golden sand, live resort centers and first class hotel service, says the edition.

Bulgaria - the sea is a surprise - thus the Italian daily paper “Gazzetta di Parma” entitled a report for the Bulgarian Black sea coast.

The sea coast offers long beaches with golden sand, live resort centers and first class hotel service. Not far away from the coastline one can see the tranquil plains with cultivated fields and the mounds covered with forests. These are one of the most favorite sites for hunters from all over Europe.

The Bulgarian Black Sea is not very popular among Italian tourists, although it is very popular among tourists from Germany, Scandinavia and Russia. Millions of tourists are visiting the magnificent coastline of a country that is now embraced by tourism Renaissance.

The Fourth International Youth Folklore Festival “Primorsko 2006” will be officially opened on Saturday, June 17 at the summer stage of Primorsko resort.

The festival is organized with the support of Primorsko municipality and will last till June, 30.
More than 2 000 participants from all over the world will take part in this year’s event. Twenty countries, including Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, Slovakia, Israel, Serbia, Turkey, Poland and Croatia have already applied at this point.

The festival program includes series of fest concerts, devoted to the folklore of the countries, participating in the event. On June, 20 the folklore troupes’ managers and the mayor of Primorsko- Dimitar Dimitrov will meet to discuss the program of the Fourth International Folklore Festival.

Students from universities from Bourgas will introduce themselves as tourists and will visit hotels and restaurants at the seaside in order to check customer service. The idea is of the Commission for Customer Protection and the goal is to speed up the control on the resort traders.
If the under covered tourists, sent by us give a signal that they have come across something wrong, we will take care, the chairman of the Commission for Customers protection Damyan Lazarov said yesterday. He assured that the representatives of the commission will not make any compromises once they find out that the hoteliers and restaurateurs are disloyal or are intentionally misleading the tourists.
The students will also work as consultants in the temporary lounges, that are to be opened in the big tourist complexes again, Lazarov said. Yesterday he opened the first “Technomarket”trade chain. In total of four hypermarkets representatives of the commission will consult clients and traders on rights and duties according to the new Customers Protection law. The law is to operate from June, 10th. In those lounges the inspectors of the Trade's Commission will explain to client how to read the labels of the goods and what information should be obtained from the traders, before they make their decision for purchases. The campaign will take time till the beginning of July.
We hope thus we will learn the people to defend their economic interests, Lazarov said.

More and more tourists have preference to spend their summer holiday in Bulgaria and Egypt. The reason for the development of the two destinations is the receding of clients, going to Greece and Turkey. Spain was considered an alternative, but hotel prices recently increased. This is supposed to cause either a sharp drop of holiday prices this summer or loss of clients, specialists say. The reservations for Turkey are already 28 % less, and those for Greece- 7 % less.

Vins du Médoc

Saplings are being planted in Sunny beach, a stadium will be constructed in Pomorie

25 meters tall Ferris wheel right on the banks of Golden Sand beach will start rolling in June.
Magnificent all year round threes and shrubs will provide unforgettable atmosphere for the tourists. Right in the middle a marvellous fountain will attract tourist's attention.
After the ban for carriages, the leadership of “Golden sands” plans the launching of a attractive train on a long route.
The walking alley will be widened. The deserted beach terrain behind the yacht port will be cleared and this season numerous attractions will be offered in the site.
Except for the full beach microinstruction, this year the youth's beach will offer a medical point, reanimation centre and a parking lot for more than 100 cars.

At the hight of the summer a brand new luxurious hotel will open doors in Byala. The enormous hotel will be four stars and will offer numerous attractions and entertainment facilities.

Sunny beach joint stock company is now investing in the planting of a green belt of saplings on both ways of the road.
The tourists from Sunny Beach, Nessebar and Ravda will be able to have fun in the brand new aqua park.
A new attraction will be offered by Nessebar municipal. By the beginning of the summer a seven kilometres long eco trail. Tourists will have the chance to observe magnificent view towards the sea.
Well developed eco trails are offered south to the villages Brashlyan, Indge Voivoda and Varshilo.
Tourists have the chance to taste organic fruits and vegetables picked by themselves directly from the garden.
Indje Voivoda' s trade mark is the donkey cart ride.

Bulgaria will be a very popular tourist destination this summer, wrote the French newspaper Le Figaro. In previous years Croatia was in the center of attention but now its Bulgaria’s turn. Moreover, the Bulgarian authorities did nothing to popularize the country, reads the newspaper. According to Le Figaro tourists services in Bulgaria are getting better each year, which persuaded the French tour operators to put the country once again on the list with offers after years of absence from the brochures. The prices start from 400 euro a week, including the airplane ticket.

Wealthy Chinese are to visit Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts in huge numbers, spending big money on luxurious goods

Chinese millionaires will soon discover Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts. Rich Chinese tourists are expected to Bulgaria's most luxurious summer resorts - Albena, Sunny Beach and Golden Sands, this summer, it transpired during a tourist exhibition in Beijing, where Bulgaria was declared an official destination.
With this act, the power in China allowed its nationals to spend their holidays in Bulgaria. The Chinese holiday-makers will pay between 700 and 900 euros for a weekly package.
The Chinese tourists are expected to blow big money in expensive boutiques and posh restaurants during their stay in Bulgaria.
There is a compulsory requirement that the guides of the tourist groups have an excellent conduct of the Chinese language, but they must not Chinese nationals.
The number of the wealthy Chinese who can afford summer vacations on the Balkans is about 100 million. The only existing basic problem, so far, is the lack of direct flights Beijing - Sofia, but this will hardly hamper the tourist business as there are direct flights to the capitals of Bulgaria's neighboring countries.

The first 50 tourists from UK arrived in Nessebar, announced from the municipal. They were welcomed from the head of the municipal council in Nessebar- Dimitar Yankov. The first foreign tourists for the season are accommodated in Festa Panorama hotel in Nessebar, where in an old Bulgarian custom they were welcomed with bread and salt.
The tourists will be able to visit the cultural- historical sightseeing in the Old Nessebar and will have the chance to visit local wineries and wine tasting events in Pomorie winery. The delfinarium in Varna, Rila Monastery, Kazanlak tomb and the Old Plovdiv are also included in the program of the first tourists on the Bulgarian Black sea.
This year Nessebar municipal is expecting between 9 and 11% rise in the number of foreign tourists.

Bulgarian private carrier Hemus Air will launch flights from Sofia to London and Berlin from April 9 and intends to operate a regular service to all European capitals within 2 years, said the company's executive director Dimitar Pavlov.

Hemus Air will fly to London's Heathrow Airport on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays.

Hemus Air will become the first Bulgaria carrier to resume flights to Heathrow after the landing and take-off slots of bankrupt national flag-carrier Balkan Airlines were sold for Gatwick slots.

The flights to Berlin will be available on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays.

The return fares to London and Berlin start at 199 euro without airport charges.

Hemus Air said it is also in talks with potential partners to launch flights to Istanbul. Pavlov said the company will try to join one of the existing airline alliances.

A wedding ritual at sea costs 3,000 levs

The weddings in ice towers, under water and in the air are gradually replacing the traditional and boring "earth" rituals.
There is one more idea for the thrill-seekers - a wedding on board a luxurious yacht ploughing the waves near the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is the hit of the summer season and the newest attraction for the tourists who would like to remember forever their wedding day. The price is 3,000 levs (1euro=2 levs), but it doesn't include the party after the ritual which could be additionally arranged if the young family is ready to spend some more money.
The "sea" wedding ceremony has turned into a hit at the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast - many young people seek new ways to celebrate this unforgettable day in their life.

The head of “Pic and More” Ivaila bakalova announced on a pressconference that Sting will sing on th estadium nearby Neseebar on 12 June. The date of Anastacia's show is still not arranged.
The rock fans in Kavarna will warm up for July Morning on June 30 with Alice Cooper and Rony James Dio. White Snake will entertain the guests of the town.

Masseuses from Thailand and Bali will welcome the guests of the resort

Elenite - one of Bulgaria's most luxurious Black Sea resorts - has welcomed its first guests. Several months before the beginning of the summer season some 200 white swans arrived there. The beautiful birds were noticed for the first time some six days ago. They don't seem to have any intention to leave the area.
According to ornithologists, the swans have chosen this wonderful place because of the crystal sea water and clean mountainous air.
The Elenite holiday village is famous for its splendid landscapes and excellent ecological conditions - the resort is situated far from any industrial sites.
Hectic preparations for the tourist season are underway. A new spa center is under construction. Masseuses from Thailand and Bali will take care of the guests' good shape. The girls are expected to arrive at the beginning of the season and demonstrate their skills in different kind of massages like hydro and thalassic therapy and wonderworking Oriental techniques.
The building of a new super modern aqua park is to start - admission will be free for the guests of the resort. All the attractions are part of the all-inclusive packages. The aquapark will consist of two activity pools and several water slides. The children will enjoy many different attractions, e.g. slides in the form of an elephant or octopus. There will be a bar where exotic cocktails will be served.

Another Bulgarian coastal city will try to earn musical glory in the summer of 2006. Nessebar has attracted names like Eros Ramazotti, Simply Red, Nazareth and Pearl Jam.

Nazareth will hit the stage on July 8. The Italian star Eros Ramazotti will hold a concert on July 22, whereas the legendary Simply Red will thrill the Bulgarian fans in the end of August. Pearl Jam will close the session with a gig planned for September 6.

Other pop and rock stars will also come to Nessebar and Sunny Beach, but their names will be revealed later, the Nessebar Municipality announced.

"Sunny Beach, the biggest Bulgarian Black Sea resort, will become a town," said Mayor of Nessebar Nikolay Trifonov. The idea belongs to the members of the Union of Private Owners. They are aiming at receiving full autonomy of management of the tourist complex which is now subordinate to the Sunny Beach state-owned venture. It is expected that in March the Union will submit the proposal for the transformation of the resort to the Council of Ministers (CM).

World famous musician Ivo Papazov-Ibryama has been nominated for a honorary citizen of Kavarna. The decision will be voted at a sitting of the municipal council on January 27, sources from the municipality announced.
The arguments are that Ibryama, who's the winner of the BBC award, is Kavarna's great friend and has considerable contribution to the cultural development of the town. Last year Ibryama gave four concerts in the seaside resort. The great clarinettist will be awarded the honorary medal of Kavarna.

If the construction of the Trakia motorway, linking the capital with the coastal city of Bourgas, begins in 2006, the project will be completed within 3 years, construction minister Asen Gagauzov said on Wednesday, December 14.
The Kalotina-Sofia road, which extends the Trakia motorway from the capital to the Serbian border, has the same timetable for completion.
The Svilengrad-Kapitan Andreevo section of the Maritsa motorway, linking Plovdiv with the Turkish border, will be completed in 2006.
The Sliven-Bourgas road should be ready by June 2006, 10 months behind schedule.
The reconstruction of the Vidin-Montana road should also be completed before 2007. The project, commissioned to Austria's Strabag, is facing a delay of roughly 10 months.
The Trakia, Struma and Cherno More motorways will be signed over for management under concession arrangements, said Gagauzov. The official said he hoped the intergovernmental agreement between Sofia and Ankara, which gave Turkish contractors exclusivity over the Maritsa project, will be dissolved, clearing the way for the start of construction.

The money will be invested by the firm \"Port-Balchik,\" which won the tender for concession. During the first 2 years the investments have to reach a little more than 1 billion levs . The main obligation of the concessionaire is to keep the existing jobs during the whole period of the concession. Besides, he has to ensure a mean annual commodity turnover of 201 510 tons. So far, almost all operational Bulgarian ports have worked out development master plans, announced the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Yudjel Atila.

FIDE World Chess Champion Vesselin Topalov and Tsonko Tsonev, Mayor of the northern Bulgarian coastal town of Kavarna, were declared Bulgaria's Men of 2005. The festive ceremony took place at Sofia's Military Club on Saturday evening. The Men of the Year Awards are traditionally organized by the Club M Magazine. The man of the year is elected from the vote of hundreds of journalists from Bulgaria's newspapers and e-media.
Vesselin Topalov - The King of Chess - has most probably become the most famous Bulgarian. Tsonko Tsonev is the man most loved by the international show business. And it is well known that the international show business does not fall in love easily.
But Tsonko turned the small town of Kavarna into the Balkan Mecca of Rock and Roll. He brought in Bulgaria some of the rock giants like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, The Scorpions, Accept, Axel Rudi Pell and Ronnie James Dio.

Spanish company Magle will invest 10 mln euro in the construction of a hotel complex in Kavarna, on the Black Sea, said city mayor Tsonko Tsonev. The investor has already received the relevant building permit from the municipality. The project will employ a 0.7 ha land plot in the city's beachfront. Another high-profile project, a golf course sited between the villages of Bozhurets and Topola, will be issued a construction permit in early '06, said the mayor. Developers have been flocking to Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea coast, attracted by the unspoiled nature and the competitive property prices.

Maltese company Kabland will present today to the local government in Pomorie, on the Black Sea, a 53 mln euro golf course project.

The golf complex, to be built on 200 ha near the village of Kableshkovo and 10 km from the coastline, will incorporate an 18-hole course, villas, hotels, swimming pools, a horse-back riding track, tennis courts, a casino, a soccer pitch and polo grounds. The facility will have 800 year-round staff. The project will be implemented within 2 years.

PricewaterhouseCoopers will consult and audit the project.

Kabland is co-owned by Malta-registered NGB Consulting (80%) and the Pomorie municipality (20%).

In related news, it was announced that the Golf Plus company will build a golf course on 3.7 ha site in Bansko, the ski resort town located some 160 km south of Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

The transfer of the land plot was approved at the last session of the municipal council.

The investment is seen at 5 mln levs. Golf Plus is co-owned by air carrier Air Sofia and Fisko Group and already operates golf courses in Ihtiman, near Sofia, and in Sliven, South-eastern Bulgaria.

SkyEurope, a low-budget airline based in Slovakia, will offer flights from Budapest to the cities of Varna and Bourgas from next summer, as Bulgaria becomes a key market for the air carrier, news agency Interfax reported, citing CEO Christian Mandl.

The return fare with airport charges will start from 98 euro.

According to the SkyEurope website, the inaugural Sofia-Budapest flight will be performed on June 6.

At the moment, national flag-carrier Bulgaria Air, Hungary's Malev and budget airline Wizz Air are the only carriers permitted to perform direct flights between Hungary and Bulgaria. SkyEurope is currently cleared to fly directly only between Bratislava and Sofia, a route which the carrier will start servicing from December.

SkyEurope carried 538,000 passengers in the 12 months ended November 13, a 105% increase compared to the base period, Mandl told Interfax. The number of flights rose 44% to 5630, while load factor improved two percentage points to 75%.

According to unofficial information, Wizz Air is expected to register an airline in Bulgaria and to add Varna and Bourgas to its destinations.

The management of the Bourgas Airport, on the Black Sea, will insist before the transport ministry to be given the go-ahead to remodel the disused internal flights passenger hub into an auxiliary terminal in anticipation of a 10% traffic increase next summer.

The Varna Airport, further north along the coastline, also recently announced plans to convert a general purpose building into a temporary passenger terminal.

Both projects highlight the need to find for a prompt outcome from the litigation of the concession procedure for the two facilities.

The award of the concession contract to Denmark's Copenhagen Airports A/S was overturned by a 3-judge panel of the Supreme Administrative Court in October. The court instructed the transport ministry to continue the concession procedure with other bidders, the German-Bulgarian tie-in Fraport AG/BM Star and France's Vinci. The ruling of the lower panel will be reviewed by a 5-judge panel on December 1.

Bulgaria's top 3 airports - Sofia, Varna and Bourgas, struggled to cope with a 20% upsurge in passenger traffic this year.

The Varna airport reported the biggest increase in passenger traffic in the first half of 2005, up 20%, followed by Sofia with 19% and Bourgas with 15%. Passenger traffic between the inland and the Black Sea coastline soared by 40% this summer.

Bulgaria's Varna Airport, on the Black Sea, will convert a hanger into a temporary passenger terminal in preparation for next year's summer onrush of tourists, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said on Wednesday, November 9.

The 300,000 euro cost of remodelling the hanger will be covered by the budget of the airport.

The Bourgas airport, further south along the coastline, is yet to announce what measures will be taken to accommodate the spike in passenger traffic.

The transport ministry said the hanger project of the Varna airport will be on stand-by at least until December in anticipation of a final court ruling on the concession procedure for the facility.

The award of the concession contract to Denmark's Copenhagen Airports A/S was overturned by a 3-judge panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) in October. The court instructed the transport ministry to continue the concession procedure with other bidders, the German-Bulgarian tie-in Fraport AG/BM Star and France's Vinci. The ruling of the lower panel will be reviewed by a 5-judge panel on December 1.

Bulgaria's top 3 airports - Sofia, Varna and Bourgas, struggled to cope with a 20% upsurge in passenger traffic this year.

The Varna airport reported the biggest increase in passenger traffic in the first half of 2005, up 20%, followed by Sofia with 19% and Bourgas with 15%. Passenger traffic between the inland and the Black Sea coastline soared by 40% this summer.

"Hollywood fever" shakes the town because of great director's newest movie Youth Without Youth

"Coppola's visit will make people understand that Balchik is a divine place," say residents of Balchik who eagerly expect the great director's arrival. Coppola arrives in fall - the season when the town is full of colours and romantics.
Against this background its unique architecture looks really impressive. Eminent director Francis Ford Coppola has chosen Balchik for a decor of his Youth Without Youth film after Romanian writer Mircea Eliade's story.
The locals have welcomed a lot of celebrities - statesmen, diplomats, politicians, representatives of the Bulgarian and world art-elite - but this time they are deeply excited, because they know that Coppola's new movie will make their town widely famous. People of all ages borrow the copies of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now from the video-clubs. The movies' crews, characters and plots are heatedly discussed in the town's streets and cafes. Local people are curious about the new film and the scenes that will be shot in Balchik. At the moment Mircea Eliade whose books were published in Bulgaria in the 90ies is the most popular writer in Balchik.
Town's mayor Krassimir Mihaylov has already chosen a present for his high guest - a wonderful landscape created by local artist Ivan Chernev.

The new buildings in Nessebar will be with just four floors, says an order by the Mayor Nikolai Trifonov. The construction of high buildings will be banned from the beginning of next year. The resorts Obzor, Ravda and St. Vlas will also restrict the number of floors for the new buildings. The enterprisers will receive permissions for construction up to 10 meters high. The limits are forced, because of the hyper- construction along the South Black sea coast.
Nikolai Trifonov also announced that he will demand for a special law for the Old Nessebar, to regulate the construction works and the use of trading sites. 30% of the municipal’s revenues will be invested in the construction of a new Amphitheatre, summer cinema, dolphinarium, maternity home and a park close to the sea on a total area of 21 decares.
A total number of 47 new sites will open in Sunny Beach for the new season, 43 of them are with apartments for sale and the rest of them are luxurious hotels.

The producer will be welcomed with mavroud wine and gum wine

The palace in Balchik is working hard for the welcoming of one of the most famous producers in the world. The five times bearer of “Oscar” award, Francis Ford Copula, will visit the Palace on 9th November.
The producer will shoot parts of his new movie.
The producer of “Apocalypses Now” will be accompanied by his wife. The family will be accommodated in villa “St. Nikolai”, where the kids of Princess Maria used to live.
The villa offers a huge bedroom suite, a huge hall and a bathroom, and the main attraction is an old fireplace.
The shootings for the film will take place in the central villa, famous as the Quiet Nook and will last from 10th till 16th of November.
The action of the movie is taking place before the Second World War, and the main role is played by Tim Rot.
The American ambassador advised the organizers to treat the Guest with mavroud and gum wine.
The producer is also famous for his wine cellars.

Signal and BTR will be the faces of Kavarna municipal for the next summer season summer 2006, announced the municipal. The musicians arrived yesterday in the seaside resort, to prepare for the photo session, which will last two days.
The pictures for the new posters and calendars for 2006 will be taken in the most beautiful sites and historical places in the vicinity of Kavarna. The main goal is popular faces to popularize the beauties of the Northern Black Sea Coast.

In the wake of a court ruling that reversed the concession deal with Denmark's Copenhagen Airports A/S for the Black Sea airports in Varna and Bourgas, the consortium of Germany's Fraport AG and Bulgaria's BM Star said it is prepared to spend 15 mln euro on urgent upgrades of the Varna and Bourgas airports if it is granted the contract to operate the 2 facilities. The tie-in has pledged near-term investment of 176 mln euro and 403 mln euro for the 35-year life-span of the contract. The court has instructed the transport ministry to continue the concession procedure with one of the other 2 candidates, Fraport/BM Star or France's Vinci. Copenhagen Airports A/S and the transport ministry are likely to appeal the deal-breaking court ruling.

Albena AD, the travel company operating the eponymous Black Sea resort, has slated 25-30 mln levs for investment spending in the run-up to the '06 tourist season, the company's executive director Krasimir Stanev said on Mon, Oct 17. The 4-star Flamingo hotel alone will absorb 20 mln levs in '05 and as much next year. The management intends to have ten 4-star hotels in the resort. In partnership with several other firms, Albena plans to pursue the concession contract for the Balchik port. Bookings rose 3.5% in '05 as losses on the German holiday market were offset by gains on the French, British and Scandinavian markets.

The tourism boom and the construction of the new airport Sofia led to a strong interest for low- priced foreign air companies and new regular lines. “At least 3 air companies are planning to start flying from next year”, announced the head of the airport in Sofia Marian Kirilova. The Italian My Air and the German Air Berlin are among them. My Air plans to open a line from Venecia or Bolonia in December. The company started not long ago and is flying to Romania, France and Spain. The first 100 000 tickets will be 1 eurocent without airport taxes. Reservations in the last minute will be at a regular price.
The German Berlin air will start regular flights to Berlin next year. The company is flying almost everywhere in Europe together with Egypt, Tunis and Morocco and the average price of the ticket will be 19 euro.
At the moment the Hungarian Wizz air is flying four times per week from Sofia to Budapest for 125 BGN both ways. The Slovak Sky Europe will fly from December to Bratislava for almost the same price.
“Regular flights from Sofia to London are now unprofitable, but after 2007, when Bulgaria have to allow all air companies on its territory, Sofia will be a very suitable site for regular flights to the neighboring countries”, explained Kirilova.
Two Chinese air companies – the national Air china and the first private Chinese air company- Hainan Airlines are interested in Bulgaria as a new destination. They are looking for new destinations, because of big number of new airplanes they recently bought.
New regular lines will be considered on a meeting with the Quatar Airways, with KLM and Cimber air.
One of the reasons for the huge interest is the tourism development in the country. The new Sofia Airport which will open in 2006 will have a capacity of 4 million passengers per year. “That is why the airport is looking for air companies who want to fly regular flights”, announced the executive director Kalin Barzov. The airplanes of the cheap air companies will use the old airport, where the prices for services are lower.
This winter tourists from Canada are going to visit our winter resorts. The Canadian air company Sky Service will execute the flights. In November Bulgaria will take part in New York Times Travel Show for the first time. First Choice airways will carry tourists from Bristol and Glasgow.
There is an auction for interior design of the airport at the moment.

The top advisory board of Bulgaria's environmental ministry has recommended a green-light for the Cliff Golf Holiday Club investment project. The development will occupy a 96.3 ha site near the town of Balchik, on the Black Sea, and will feature residential compounds strewn around the golf course, swimming pools, a hotel, a horse-back riding stable and other sports amenities.

The number of tourists vacationing in Slanchev Bryag, Bulgaria's biggest seaside resort, will increase by 7-8% in '05, said the resort's executive director Malina Bakalova. Slanchev Bryag is most popular among the British and Scandinavian holiday-makers. The current occupancy rate at the resort is 80-85%. The bed capacity is estimated at 70,000 but the figure does include the new hotels launched in Aug.

The dinner menu of rock dinosaurs Scorpions were stewed Bulgarian vegetables with choice French white and red wines. The Scorpions will throw a grand concert on September 6 at Kavarna, northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, famous lately as the summer music hub. Klaus Meine, James Kottak, Matthias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker reportedly insisted that their food be cooked with plenty of Bulgarian spices. "Two of the Scorpions are vegetarians and we have prepared a special menu for them," said Tsonko Tsonev, Kavarna mayor.
Crowds of fans started arriving for the expected grandiose show at the town stadium and a whole tent camp mashroomed around it. The Scorpions and their manager will land in Varna, major northern Bulgaria Black Sea port, hours before the concert. Kavarna mayor Tsonev will personally welcome them at the airport accompanied by the queen of women's boxing Daisy Lang, known also after her birth name - Dessislava Kirova. She has returned to Bulgaria specially for the Scorpions concert. The band will stay at a hotel in Zlatni Piassatsi (Golden Sands) resort.

Bulgaria's posh seaside resort Sunny Beach will welcome foreign tourists to October 25, when the last reservations end.

At present Bulgaria's biggest seaside resort hosts some 60,000 guests, most of them Britons, Germans and Scandinavians, local Trud daily reported. There is also a registered 15% boom in the number of tourists from the former communist countries.

There is an increase of 8% in the number of tourists coming to Sunny Beach, Malina Bakalova, head of the resort announced.

The new owner of the port in Balchik, will receive guests from Australia and New Zealand

Businessmen, who have earned at least 3 million levs (1euro=1.95levs) in the last 3 years may take part in the bidding for the concession of the yacht port in Balchik, north-eastern Bulgaria. This is one of the conditions in the contract voted by the town's municipal council. The concession for the port will be for 35 years. The bidders must have tourist bases and experience in the field, the municipal councillors is explicit. The successful bidder will have to invest at least 100,000 levs in the port in the first 2 years and 1 million levs during the first 10 years.
Balchik port now can take up some 60 vessels. The tendency is to extend the port to 150-160 vessels. Catamarans and yachts from the Netherlands, Germany, USA, Australia and New Zealand now cast anchor at Balchik port.

New tourism sites will be constructed on 1000 decares agricultural land nearby the village of Kranevo, explained the mayor of Balchik municipal Krasimir Michailov. The first piece of land of 400 decares land is already included in the town’s plans. There is a huge interest towards the village, not only because of the sea views, but also because of the “Baltata”- a natural reserve which is situated very close to the town. The construction of villa complexes is expected to start next year.
The tourism base in Kranevo already has 7500 categorized beds. According to the statistics 100 000 stays were registered in the municipal this summer.
The project for a four class road from Osenovo to Kranevo is ready and thus the road to Varna airport will be 10 kilometers shorter and the tourists to Albena will travel less, said the mayor of Balchik. He announced that 2 000 000 BGN were provided for the new infrastructure projects. However, funds for compensation of the owners of properties are still needed.
Tomorrow Kranevo will host “Hallo summer 2006” happening. The local association of hoteliers and restaurateurs “Kranea” will give away rewards to tourists with 10 packages for free holiday for the next year.

Mussels and fish in industrial quantities will be provided in the famous mussel’s fest in Kavarna, which will open in Saturday. Sea meals will be offered on 10 sites in the main street of the town, announced the mayor of the town Tsonko Tsonev.
The mussels will be provided by the plantation “Dalboka”. The prices will be with discount. Fishermen and mayors from Vidin, Silistra, Tsaribrod and the Romanian town Babadag will be exhibited on the event.

The payment for a night's lodging is 10 levs at the end of the season

Tourists could spend a wonderful holiday in Kranevo (northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast) at the end of the summer season. The cost of a night's lodging here is only ten levs at the end of the season. The tourist agents have organized an unusual attraction - tonight diplomats, MPs and holiday-makers will have a party in the beutiful resort. The event is held under the motto "Hello, Summer 2006"; it will take place not far away from the beach - between the Vedren hotels and the Kozloduy holiday home. Some 3,000 people will enjoy the songs of Tsetso Elvisa and the hits of the famous musicians from Signal band. The party will end in the wee hours. There will be surprises and many interesting awards, including summer holidays for free in Kranevo next year.

A project for the construction of a new resort complex in the Varna resort Shkorpilovtsi was announced by architect Saraliev.

A new urban planning for the whole resort zone in Shkorpilovtsi was announced by Saraliev. He said that he will have absolute control over the big construction works and this is the first complex projecting since the 60s last century, when the other complexes were planned. A construction plan will be prepared for the construction of this resort zone, together with a model and a geological report. The plan for the dividing of the land will be on three layers, with vertical planning, first regulation, street net and building, said Saraliev.
The resort complex will take 2100 decares, with only 300 decares privately owned land, the rest of the land embarked for construction is owned by the municipal and the National Forest Fund, informed Saraliev.
The buildings in the resort complex will be nine- floored- a terrace construction with a view towards the sea. It is interesting that an inner reservoir will be built for the first time in country, and this will make the usual season last two months longer. The reservoir will be open- aired in the lower zone of the river and the beach will be 200 meters away.
The inner 100 meters of the purposed territory will be with two more beaches nearby the water. The construction works has partly started with the construction of 1000 residential homes and a big five star hotel with 500 beds. There are already investors from Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and England, informed the architect. The preparation of the plan for the resort zone Shkorpilovtsi will be financed by Emil Kulev with 50 thousand BGN, informed architect Saraliev. The president of Bulgaria George Parvanov is also aware of the project as he visited Biala and Dolni Chiflik municipals.

Zlatni Pyasatsi AD, the local company that owns several hotels and the infrastructure in the coastal resort by the same name, will to invest 13 mln euro in luxury properties and holiday villages over the next two years, the Bulgarian stock exchange reported.

Some 7 mln euro will be allocated to the Admiral holiday village on the territory of the resort, the company said, adding that the construction works have already kicked off.

Over 5 mln euro will go to remodel the Iglika hotel into an apartment building. The company also has several other apartment building projects on the drawing board.

Another 1 mln euro have been slated for new street lamps and improvements in the resort's landscape infrastructure.

According to company data, its hotels attracted more than 20,000 tourists since the beginning of the season, up from 17,700 in 2004. Overnights were reported at 160,500 versus 157,000 a year ago.

Germany remains the resort's biggest market, followed by Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Local tourists form the third biggest group of visitors, having more than doubled from last year.

In the half-year period net sales stood at 5.97 mln lev versus 5.11 mln levs a year ago. Still, the company ran a loss of 3.3 mln levs.

Zlatni Pyasatsi traded at an average of 16.99 levs on the local bourse on Wednesday when 252 shares changed hands.

45 participants will arrange automobiles on 26 of August on the Black sea alley in Nessebar.

Retro- parade Nessebar’ 2005 will take place for the third time in Nessebar under the patronage of the mayor Nikolai Trifonov.
The official opening will be on Friday 13.30 local time in front of the gates of the Old Nessebar. An hour earlier the alley in front of hotel Panorama will host the technical control of the automobiles together with a technical conference. The traditional competition will start at 18.00 o’clock on Messembria plaza, followed by the awarding of the winners. Tourism automobiles and motorcycles – serial and limited production, produced before 31.12.1972 will have the right to participate. The automobile classes have to be in good technical condition, good looks, original carosserie.

The municipality of Dalgopol, in the coastal region of Varna, said it will build a community of villas on a 35-50 ha site near the Tsonevo dam in an attempt to boost the inflow of tourists to the area. The municipality will borrow 1.8 mln euro for the project from an unnamed European financial institution targeting the municipal sector. After completion, the villas will be put up for sale. The initiative is subject to public discussion.

Scorpions changed the date of their arrival, this time they announced September 6th.
Instead of them Manfred Mann are going to play in Kavarna on August 20th, the mayor Tsonko Tsonkov is negotiating with Motorhead.
The legendary German rock bend Scorpions unexpectedly changed the date of their concert in Kavarna. The event was planned to take place in August 20th. The organizers assured that the already sold tickets will be accepted on the concert in September 6th.
The mayor of Kavarna said that he has no idea why the date was changed, however he was happy about the fact that they are still coming. After their concert in Bulgaria the band is flying for France where they will play on Sptember 10th. After that they will have a short tour in Qatar, United Arabian Emirates and Egypt.
Manfred Mann will arrive in Kavarna on the day of the concert. Yesterday the organizers announced that as a compensation for the inconvenience of the change of the date for Scorpions' concert fans will have the chance to enjoy Manfred Mann for free.
The concert of Destruction will be also delayed for a several days. They will come on August 26 instead of August 21. People will again have the chance to enjoy the band for free. They will come a day earlier, because the musicians want to rest before the event. The only certain date is August 27th- the concert of Accept in Kavarna.

Varna-based Intercom Group has invested 1 mln levs in a holiday development near Kranevo, 24 km north of Varna. The 2,400 sq m 3-star complex consists of 11 luxe villas, a restaurant and a swimming pool. Intercom already operates a 130-bed hotel compound in the Semkovo resort, in the Rila mountain. The company will launch next year similar facilities in Pomorie, Slanchev Bryag and Nesebar.

British Airways will launch a new summer route from Bulgaria to the United Kingdom in 2006 by introducing a two times weekly service from Varna to London.

The new flights will operate from Varna airport to London Gatwick airport every Wednesday and Saturday. These flights will be operated by Boeing 737-400 aircraft and will be available till the end of October 2006.

The further expansion of British Airways services in Bulgaria demonstrates the company's dedication to the rapidly developing aviation market and tourism industry in Bulgaria.

The new summer route from Varna to London Gatwick will offer Bulgarian passengers more flexibility when traveling with British Airways not only to London but to more than 160 destinations beyond. It is also a response to the increasing interest in the Bulgarian sea-coast as a tourist destination, registered within the UK over the last years.

Emil Delibashev, British Airways Country Commercial Manager for Bulgaria said "Through the launch of the new Varna route, we will be offering in total twelve flights a week between Bulgaria and the capital of the United Kingdom. We envisage keeping our flight progarmme from this summer, which in addition to the existing daily flights to London Heathrow, include the three new extra flights to London Gatwick."

In addition to the existing daily flights to London Heathrow, as of June 3rd this year, British Airways had launched three extra early flights from Sofia to London Gatwick, offering further links onward to many worldwide destinations at the same day.

The annual holiday “Sea of wine” will take place for the fourth time in Pomorie. It is being organized by the municipal and “Festa Wine Company” from August 4 till September 10.

The whole August till the end of the holidays the central square in Pomorie will be the perfect place for wine lovers as they can taste it for free. Masters wine- growers from “Black sea gold”- Pomorie and “Vinkom”- Bou