15 October 2007 Newsletter

The European tourist committee: Bulgaria's most attractive features are it's mountains, golf courses and spa centres.

Foreign tourists are looking for authenticity of experience.

Bulgaria can become a part of the European tourist market by offering foreign visitors opportunities for mountain, golf and SPA tourism. This is what Arthur Oberasher, Head of the Board of Directors of the European Tourist Committee said at a meeting in Sofia.

European countries have stopped competing with each other for attracting tourists. Instead, they are focusing on promoting themselves as a common destination, Mr. Oberasher explained. Bulgaria has its own place in the 'Europe' tourist brand. During the last two days the European Tourist Committee has had a meeting in Sofia at the invitation of the State Agency of Tourism. The forum's main subject has been the management of quality.

Another subject for discussion has been the possibility for European destinations to prove attractive for a greater number of tourists by offering them authenticity of experience – something they are gladly looking for. This would open up opportunities for Bulgaria to develop its tourist industry by promoting its mountains, SPA resorts and golf facilities, Mr. Oberasher said. Of no less importance is the country's cultural heritage. According to data by the European Tourist Committee, the number of foreign visits to Europe has grown during the last two or three years. While in 2004 the number of tourists was 421 million, a year later it was 438 million, or by 4% higher. In 2004 European holidaymakers in Europe were 363 million, a year later their number increased to 378 million. In 2004 there was a 2.9% growth compared to 2003. In 2005 it reached 4.4%.

US tourists to Europe rank second: in 2005 their number was 26 million; or by 4% higher compared to 2004.

The share of the Near East tourists is too small – only 0.5%, and that of the African tourists – 0.6% of the total number of tourists in Europe.

Dnevnik Daily
4 October, 2007

World Bank: Bulgarian economy in the top 10

Bulgaria was among the top ten developing countries in the world, a World Bank (WB) report showed, as quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on October 10th.

Other successfully developing states included Egypt, which was the absolute leader in the ranking, as well as Croatia, Macedonia, Georgia and others, said Simeon Dyankov, manager for a WB Business project. The ranking was based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time and cost to meet government requirements in business start-up, operation, trade, taxation, and closure.

Since 2003 the World Bank has inspired more than 113 reforms around the world. Countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union reformed the most in 2006 and 2007, along with a large group of emerging markets, including China and India.

Reformers made it simpler to start a business, strengthened property rights, enhanced investor protections, increased access to credit, eased tax burdens, and expedited trade while reducing costs. In all, 200 reforms in 98 economies were introduced between April 2006 and June 2007.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as a region, surpassed East Asia this year in the ease of doing business. Several of the region's countries, including Bulgaria, have excelled many economies of Western Europe on this score, the report says.

Sofia Echo
11 October, 2007

Bulgarian customers of low-cost carriers 50% up.

The low-cost carriers operating on the Bulgarian market registered a 50% increase in the number of passengers in the first nine months of 2007, compared to the same period of 2006. This strongly surpassed the growth marked by traditional flight operators, which was only 11%, announced Wizz Air's chief commercial officer John Stevenson.

The market share of low-cost airlines in Bulgaria could reach 20% by the end of 2007, according to estimates made earlier this year. Low-cost air carriers held only seven or eight per cent of the aviation market in the country at the end of 2006.

Stevenson's forecast, is that the number of passengers transported by Wizz Air in Central and Eastern Europe will reach 4.3 million for the entire 2007, compared to 2.9 million in 2006.

Wizz Air announced earlier this year that it will start flying from Sofia to the German city of Dortmund on October 29, 2007. The flights will operate twice a week and are expected to increase to three times per week around Christmas. The initial price offered is EUR 24.99, airport fees included.

Sofia News Agency
12 October, 2007

Air travel from London Heathrow to Sofia for 59 Euro

One-way ticket from Sofia to London Heathrow at the price of EUR 59 will be issued by British Airways, company officials announced. Airport fees are not included in the price.

The offer will be valid by October 20. The tickets purchased may be used next year. Until now the lowest one-way plane fare from Sofia to London has been EUR 90 'This is the most attractive air ticket price on the Sofia –London destination that has ever been offered in Bulgaria by British Airways,' E. Delibashev, the company's sales manager for Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia says.

BA flights from Sofia to London Heathrow run daily. Also, there are four BA flights every week from Varna to London Gatwick.

24 Hours Daily
28 September, 2007

Skyeurope is focusing on business travel

Low-cost airline company SkyEurope will increase the number of flights from Sofia to Vienna to twice a day, starting at the end of October.

The news has been announced by the company's sales manager K. Mc Clough, who pointed out that their objective was to offer business and lifestyle travel.

So far SkyEurope has been flying from Sofia to Vienna six times a week. 'Bulgaria is a key market with a very fast growth, K. Mc Clough said. He foresees an increased number of passengers from Bulgaria for 2007, namely from 50 000 to 130 000. Compared to 2006, passengers have increased by 2.4%.

At the moment the Austrian Airlines and Bulgaria Air have the monopoly on the Sofia – Vienna destination. Only 16% of the low-cost companies operate from Sofia airport. Meanwhile the two carriers have announced their plans to increase the number of flights, starting in October.

'We will fly to Sofia five times a day, at the price of EUR 69 for a two-way ticket, exclusive of airport fees,' the Austrian Airlines regional manager K. Kitchev said. He explained that the company will try to attract business travelers and students, as well as tourists.

At the moment the Austrian carrier flies to Vienna four times a day. Next summer it will launch flights twice a day to Varna and five times a week to Bourgas. 'We offer good connections and competitive prices. We will increase the number of flights according to demand,' the Bulgaria Air executive director D. Pavlov said. The company is planning to change the number of flights to Brussels from seven to ten a week.

Dnevnik Daily
1 October, 2007

A loan agreement for the rehabilitation of roads has been signed with the worlds bank.

Oresharsky and the World Bank representative for Bulgaria F. Fichtel for a Project for rehabilitation of the country's road infrastructure. The news has been announced by World Bank officials.

The EUR 90 million Project for road rehabilitation was approved by the World Bank Board of Executives on 26 June. Its objective is to cut down the country's road transport expenses, while improving the conditions and quality of its road infrastructure during the first year of Bulgaria's accession to the EU. The state of the Bulgarian roads is an important factor for a successful trade with the EU countries and for the integration of the country's far-off regions into the European market, Mr Fitch said.

Within the framework of the road rehabilitation project, the Republican Road Infrastructure Fund will act on the improvement of selected roads of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, of a total length of about 450km. They have been placed into eight lots of road sections from all over the country, excluding the South eastern region.

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