17 March 2008 -  Bulgaria Outstrips Greece and Turkey in Tourists' Interest on Moscow Expo

Fortunately for Bulgaria, the interest towards the tourism stand of our country on the 'Intourmarket 2008' tourism expo in Moscow was much higher than the one towards the stands of Greece and Turkey. This is what the State Agency of Tourism (SAT) director Anelia Krushkova announced.

The Bulgarian stand was opened yesterday, it is located immediately next to the entrance of the exposition's hall.

Bulgaria is presented by 30 tourist firms and the representatives of Bulgaria have conducted meetings with the representatives of the tour operators.

At the meeting the Russian tour operators brought forward a few concrete problems connected with the visa issuing for Russian citizens, who want to visit Bulgaria.
The issuing of visas was extremely hard, the Russians complained. Another problem is the lack of airplanes to Bulgaria to transport all the tourists who want to come to Bulgaria.

Today the program of the Bulgarian stand continues with presentation of SPA and Wellness tourism in Bulgaria.

  10 March 2008 - Bulgaria Named Brits Best Value Holiday Hotspot

Bulgaria has cemented its reputation as the cheapest package holiday destination on the British market, a survey shows.

A pint of beer and a Big Mac costs just GBP 1.49 in Bulgaria, making it the world's best value holiday hotspot for Brits, according to the survey of Teletext Holidays, a specialized tourism site.

The World's Best Value Breaks Report surveyed holiday costs in 20 worldwide destinations.

The findings cement Bulgaria's reputation as a cheap package holiday destination, with many Brits now shunning the Costas in favour of Black Sea resorts like Sunny Beach and Golden Sands.

Research revealed that traditional holiday favourites such as Spain, which trailed in 17th place, Italy and France are left firmly in the shade when it comes to value-for-money escapes.

The Teletext Holidays survey claimed average hotel prices in Spain vary between GBP 80- GBP 145 per night, while holidaymakers have to fork out GBP 18 for a three-course meal.

Although Bulgaria boasts the cheapest pint in Bulgaria - costing 49p - beer-lovers can also enjoy a cheap booze-up in Morocco (51p), the Czech Republic (61p) and South Africa (83p).

Marrakech, famed for its winding souks, minarets and medinas, is singled out for offering luxury breaks at affordable prices. A five-star hotel room with breakfast in the city will set the visitor back GBP 80.

Two other African hotspots - Tunisia and Egypt - are also recommended for holidaymakers on a shoestring, while Greece, Turkey and Portugal are other short haul winners.

Surprisingly, two long haul destinations are featured in the top 10. Despite the flight costs, splashing out on a three-course meal in South Africa or India won't cost more than a tenner.

  20 September 2007 - Bulgaria World Champ in Property Prices High Jump

Bulgaria's residential property market has recorded the world's second-highest increase in prices in the second quarter of 2007, overleaped solely by Latvia, according to a new global research.

Residential property prices in Bulgaria jumped by 27.1% in the second quarter of this year, up by nearly 15% in comparison with the same period last year (12.2%).

The strong growth pushed the country up by eight spots in the ranking of Knight Frank, a leading British residential and commercial property consultancy.

While still topping the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, the price rise in Riga is 37.7% for the second quarter of 2007, down from 45.3% for the same period last year.

Global property prices are increasing by 7.8% annually to the second quarter of 2007, according to the research. The figure has shown a 1.8 % fall - from 9.6 % - since the same period in 2006.

House prices across much of Western Europe have stalled or begun to fall. Other previously strong performers in the Knight Frank ranking - notably Spain - have also seen growth rates moderate. Nationally prices in Q2 2007 were more than 5% higher than in Q2 2006.

The slowdown has continued to bite in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The German residential market also remains in the doldrums, with year-on-year price growth having declined for four consecutive quarters. Likewise, Sweden has also seen negative price growth over the last 12 months.

  7 June 2007 - Bulgaria Touted as Europe's Third Biggest Property Hotspot

A new research has ranked Bulgaria as the third most attractive residential investment destination in Europe.

The study carried out by Global Property Guide (GPG) compared several factors, which were judged to contribute to the attractiveness of buying residential property.

Bulgaria came in third with 10.6% gross rental yields, reform on track, low prices, but very high transaction costs on purchase.

Slovakia grabbed the first spot with inexpensive house prices, very high GDP growth, low rental income tax and no capital gains tax on long-term property holdings.

Second came Turkey, whose major attractions are the strong GDP growth and the dynamics of the housing market.

   30 May 2007 - Bulgaria in Top 3 Tourist Destinations for Europeans

Bulgaria has made it to the top 3 of preferred tourist destinations among the Europeans, together with Greece and Tunisia, Bulgarian National TV Channel reported.

This summer the travelling agencies expect a 12% growth in the number of foreign tourists in Bulgaria and 60% of them will come from the EU member states.

In the last four years the country has gained popularity because of its luxurious hotels, unconventional tourist offers and the attractive venues. Still, there is a chance for Bulgaria to repel foreign tourists because of the uncontrolled construction works all over the Black Sea coast.

Bulgaria must also put some serious efforts in improving its executive and legislative power in order to put and end of the reckless constructions, CEO of the Bulgarian Tourists Agencies Association Donka Sokolova said.

"If we make even a single false move, Bulgaria will be forsaken by tourists for the next ten years at least," Sokolova warned.

  25 April 2007 - Sofia Building Enterprise To Build BGN 71 M Mall in Sofia

Sofia Building Enterprise said on Wednesday that it plans to invest at least BGN 71 M to build its Tsarigradski Mall in the Druzhba district of the capital.

The mall will have a built-up surface of 13,000 square meters on each of the three floors, as well as a three-level subterranean parking lot for 2,300 cars.

The blueprint also includes a total of 15,000 square meters of office space, a hypermarket, and a luxury penthouse restaurant.

The mall will be located near the Tsarigradski residential estate, now being built by Sofia Building Company, which is also the main shareholder of Sofia Building Enterprise.

The enclosed luxury estate and the mall will be built next to the Druzhba residential district on one of the capital's major thoroughfares, Tsarigradsko Shosse boulevard.

Both the 1,300-apartment estate and the mall will be completed in 2009.

Recognized as a major investment by the country's state investment agency BAI, the mall qualifies for state aid. The company plans to ask the government to expand a nearby road exit that would improve access to the mall.

 23 April 2007 - Global Finance to Build EUR 50 M Real Estate Project in Sofia

 10 April 2007 - 10% of Investments in Eastern Europe to Flow in Bulgaria

Some ten percent of the expected new investments in Eastern Europe will enter Bulgaria, because the country continues to attract foreign investors, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB) stated in a report.
Austria's central provider of financial services and information to exporters and capital markets measured the economic climate in 19 Central and Eastern European countries. The research showed that Bulgaria is very attractive and it ranks among the top four countries in the list.

About 170 project have been planned for the region and 10% of them will go towards Bulgaria, OeKB experts say. Those projects are mainly in the industry sector. Bulgaria's positions are very good when it comes to the companies' expectations for the country's overall economic development in the following months.

10 April 2007 - Bulgaria "Third Most Profitable for Buy-to-Let"

Bulgaria has been ranked the third most profitable country for buy-to-let investors, lagging behind Poland and the United Kingdom, according to a report of property investment firm Assetz.

Bulgaria is followed by France, Turkey, Greece, Spain, South Africa, Cyprus and Portugal as the top ten most profitable locations.

Poland offers a 165 % net capital gain on cash invested, the UK - 63%, Bulgaria - 54%, France - 51% and Turkey - 45%, according to the study.

At the end of last month The Observer ranked Bulgaria, Turkey and northern France as the current hotspots for British first-time buyers overseas.