Bulgaria's Bansko - Europe's Cheapest Ski Resort

Bulgaria's ski holiday resort Bansko has been named Europe's best value ski resort by TripAdvisor for the second year in a row.

The resort was found to offer the best value when compared with 40 other ski destinations, based on typical one-day-visit ski costs plus food and drink.

The costs amounted to just GBP 104 at Bansko. A similar day on the slopes at Courchevel in France - the most-expensive destination - was as much as GBP 432.

Other bargain resorts included Sochi in Russia (where the one-day costs were GBP 137), Ordino Arcalis in Andorra (GBP 138) and Arinsal in Andorra (GBP 141).

In contrast costs were as high as GBP 428 in St Moritz in Switzerland and GBP 404 in Meribel in France.

The ninth least-expensive resort was the Cairngorms in Scotland where a one-day trip would set visitors back GBP 173.

The survey covered the cost of one night's hotel accommodation, one day's ski pass, one day's basic ski hire, a meal and a bottle of beer for the ski season from December 15 2013 to April 15 2014.

TripAdvisor spokesman James Kay said: "Eastern European destinations and Andorra offer the best value and, for those wanting to stay closer to home, it's great to see a Scottish ski resort among the 10 least-expensive destinations."
novinite.com
20/12/13
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  • Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

 

Bansko Residents Rally again for Resort Expansion

Residents of the Bulgarian mountain resort town of Bansko are staging Monday a new protest rally with demands to have permits to build a new ski lift and to expand the ski tracks.
The initiative committee vows to "be on the barricades in order to remind those in power they are expecting a quick solution to the problem with the ski area" in the mountain near their town.
The demonstrators stress the winter holidays are over, but the problems persist, adding the lines for the ski lifts were unprecedented once again during the last weekend. They insist for the very first time their resort is the leader in the sad statistics of having the longest lines of people trying to use the ski lifts and threaten to move the protests to the capital Sofia.
The initiative committee is accusing Bulgarian eco activists of lies and provocations.
The protest Monday is closing once again the road between the town of Razlog and Bansko.

In the last days of 2012, similar rallies closed the same road for three consecutive days. The protests were supported by the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Deputy Economy Minister in Charge of Tourism, Ivo Marinov, and Lyuben Tatarski, Member of the Parliament from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, who appeared all in person at the demonstrations.
The proponents of new construction insist it would not cause any environmental harm because the construction will be done only within the now-existing limits of the ski zone. Such decision will lead to eliminating a text in the plan for management of the Pirin National Natural Park.
The Mayor of Bansko, Georgi Ikonomov, who supports the demonstrators, has declared he would not negotiate with the Greens party unless OLAF, the EU anti-fraud office, probes how the environmentalists are using resources and spending money.
Environmentalists have argued that Bansko is already overdeveloped, with excessive amounts of hotel beds and ski runs that have already harmed the nearby Pirin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
They labeled the presence of senior officials at the rallies a "huge political gaffe." To them the protests are being staged by those in power in order to serve corporate interests.
Bansko's main ski and tourist operator, Yulen, is known to be held by Tseko Minev, who also owns Vitosha Ski and First Investment Bank, chairs the Bulgarian Ski Federation, and is said to be close to Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov.
The rallies caused long lines of vehicles during the winter holidays, outraging some of the guests arriving for the extended holiday weekend, while others have supported the demonstrators.
.novinite.com
14/1/13
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• Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

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• Greek, Romanian Police to Patrol Bulgarian Ski Resort

 

Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov participated Sunday in a protest that blocked the entrance to Bulgaria's top winter resort, Bansko.
Tsvetanov expressed support for Bansko residents, who for a thrid day in a row have come out to request an expansion of ski facilities in the resort.
The action of Bulgaria's top cop and Vice-PM is a culmination of a string of high-ranking visits to the protests, which saw Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and vice minister for tourism Ivo Marinov also showing up.
"I am convinced that in a very short time, protesters' demands will be satisfied. Their requests will be heard at the very first cabinet sitting in 2013," stated Tsvetanov.
8,000 Bansko residents, organized by mayor Georgi Ikonomov, have submitted to Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev a petition requesting for expansion of facilities in the resort.

Sunday Ikonomov claimed that Plevneliev has already given his support for the petition.
Petitioners have argued that environmentalists and others opposing the further development of Bansko are just bullying authorities and are dooming the region to economic underdevelopment.
Opposers to projects for ski facilities expansion argue that Bansko is already overdeveloped, with local companies requesting further ski runs only to make up for an excessively high number of tourist beds in Bansko made possible by the construction boom in the 00s.
In addition, they have argued that the local ski operator, Yulen, has already overstepped the territory for ski facilities allowed by the state in the Pirin National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Environmentalists have argued that the manifest support of high-ranking statespersons for the protests is out of order and showing that the rallies have been staged in a situation smacking of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
The current protests in Bansko bring to mind rallies in June supporting Bulgaria's new Forestry Act intended to ease development in forest areast, which were supported by ruling GERB party MPs and cabinet ministers.
The legislative amendments were however scrapped, after massive protests against them blocked a major intersection in capital Sofia for several days on.
The amendments to the Forestry Act were known to be sponsored by the Vitosha Ski company, which operates facilities on Vitosha Mountain nearby Sofia.
Both Vitosha Ski and Yulen are known to be controlled by notorious businessman and Bulgarian Ski Federation chair Tseko Minev, who also holds First Investment Bank.
.novinite.com
30/12/12
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• Bulgarian Winter Resorts (Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo) Expect Greek Visitors Boom 

• Greek, Romanian Police to Patrol Bulgarian Ski Resort