Bulgaria's Pamporovo Officially Launches Winter Season

The opening ceremony at the Bulgarian winter resort Borovets was accompanied by snowboard and ski demonstrations. Photo by BGNES

The top Bulgarian winter resort – Pamporovo is officially launching this weekend the winter season with a ski show.

Despite the lack of snow and the unusually warm for December weather, the resort already welcomed the first tourists with tracks covered with artificial snow.

Pamporovo, deemed Bulgaria's winter resort with the most sunshine, is ready for the season, which will not be an easy one, in the light of the meteorological conditions and the economic situation in Europe, according to Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, Ivo Marinov, who attended the ceremony. He pointed out that keeping last year's level,s or a slight increase in bookings in the country's winter resorts, would be an optimistic forecast.

Marinov informed, citing research of World Travel Market that the UK registers a 32% decrease in reservations for winter tourism, but the drop is different for different destinations. He added that it is too early to say what would be the exact impact on Bulgaria.

The Deputy Tourism Minister pointed out Bulgaria's winter resorts also count on visitors from Russia, the Ukraine, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania and Greece.

For the upcoming European Ski Cup rounds in Pamporovo in February, the Ministry of Youth and Sports will provide BGN 850 000 to boast Bulgaria's image as a host, Minister Svilen Neykov said during the ceremony.

About 3 000 guests gathered in Pamporovo for the season opening. The ski lifts were free of charge and guests were served free coffee and tea. The ski lift passes next week will be discounted – BGN 32 a day, compared to the regular price of BGN 50 a day.

Pamporovo begins the season with 12 new snow guns for artificial snow which brings the total to 100. Thanks to artificial snow, the resort maintains 3 ski tracks full time.

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