Bansko Bulgaria Is Newest Favourite

The Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko is shaping up to be the big hit of the 2006-2007 winter ski holiday booking season. Ski holidays in Bansko proved incredibly popular.

Bookings for the winter ski holiday season have just begun in earnest and Bansko is already looking to be one of the most popular European ski resorts.

Ski-Direct have seen bookings for Bulgaria ski holidays grow 5 years in a row. This is down to the annual developments of ski and après ski facilities.

Paul Reeve, Sales and Marketing Manager for Ski-Direct believes the appeal is mainly due to the wide availability of cheap package ski holidays in Bulgaria, combined with the increased investment by the Bulgarian tourist authorities in Bulgarian ski resorts as they bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Paul says: "Bulgaria has built up a great reputation as a low-cost holiday choice over the last few years. Bansko has great slopes, particularly for beginner skiers and for snowboarders and we're seeing a word-of-mouth effect boosting the number of holidaymakers picking Bansko ski holidays."

Kim Marklew Communication Coordinator says that Bulgaria is a great all round value for money ski holiday destination whether you are an experienced skier or a complete beginner.

"It offers excellent facilities and value for money with a bottle of local beer costing from as little as 80p, and a three course meal from £6.00. Bansko is is more than just a ski resort. It offers state of the art ski equipment, and last winter season added another two new four chair lifts, a drag lift, 10km of marked ski runs and a snowboarders half pipe facility."

Bulgaria enjoys the best of both worlds, being an increasingly popular country for beach holidays, as well as for ski breaks.

Paul says: "Looking at summer holiday bookings, Bulgaria is a strong challenger to Spain and Turkey as a beach holiday destination offering fantastic value for money and facilities that suit people with children, as well as groups of young people looking for sun during the day and plenty of places to go in the evenings."

UK Winter Sports fan can now fly from Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh airports with the new ski holiday deals on offer for Bansko.

Bansko is challenging the popularity of the more established resorts of Borovets and Pamparovo due to its excellent ski runs, which are praised for their variety and rugged beauty.

The winter sports season at Bansko lasts from December to mid-April. Conditions are still good until mid-May for back-country skiing.

100 million Euros were invested in the town’s state-of-the-art ski facility, designed specially for the Pirin Mountains that surround Bansko in southwest Bulgaria.

A short hot summer and long mild winter with constant snowfalls produce excellent skiing conditions, but taking no chances, artificial snow is used in warmer weather to produce uniformly excellent runs – one of the only places in the world where this is possible.

The town of Bansko itself is unspoilt and should continue to stay that way - it is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site.

Bansko is approximately 3 hours drive from Bulgaria's capital Sofia and continues to be a popular destination after the snow thaws, when hiking and rock climbing take over from skiing.

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