Ski Bulgaria recovers after recession last winter

Sales of ski resorts in Bulgaria for the 2019-2020 season started actively last spring, however, to date, operators do not note stable growth. Recall that the previous winter season was not the most successful for Bansko and other ski resorts in the country. The resort missed guests from the UK, Turkey, Russia and Bulgaria itself.

“We started selling ski tours to Bulgaria in April, hoteliers offered discounts up to 20% on early booking. On the whole, sales retained the volumes of the past year. But the demand for the summer season is now twice more than last year,” said Svetlana Baranova, PR director of Tez Tour. In the list of preferences of Russians, Bansko and Borovets are still leading.

“We are generally satisfied with winter Bulgaria, we have gathered groups for New Year’s dates and February holidays. Perhaps it was a pent-up demand, a year ago very few people went to Bulgaria in winter.” concluded S. Baranova.

Tui Russia also mentioned increased demand, compared to last year. Leading public relations manager Tatyana Korshunova also noted that 70% of tourists choose Bansko, 20% choose Borovets and Pamporovo is in third place. “Today, Tui is the only tour operator to put its own charter chain from Moscow to Sofia in the winter season. The flight program started on December 27, 2019, and the flights are operated twice a week,” she said. According to her, Bulgaria remains one of the budget destinations for ski holidays, even after hotels have raised prices by 10% this season. However, for March tours, Bulgarian hoteliers give special offers with discounts up to 25%.

“February is considered to be the most popular month for skiers, so, arrivals for this period were actively booked at the stage of early booking,” said Ms. Korshunova.