If potential investors, for example, from the countries of the former Soviet Union, went on vacation to Bulgaria en masse, they would quickly figure out what to invest in today in the territory of the country - a new EU member. And they would begin to act on the Bulgarian market as leaders, not followers.
What should the owner of an apartment in Bulgaria pay for?
• Many wealthy Russians invest their earned capital in foreign real estate. After studying the real estate markets of several countries, some affluent residents decide to buy an apartment in Bulgaria – an amazing fertile country with a mild climate. The owner of an apartment in Bulgaria is obliged to pay monthly for electricity, water, and also heating energy if the dwelling has central heating, based on meter readings. It is also necessary to pay for waste disposal, and for maintenance service, including cleaning of the territory and its security.
The first significant investors whose investments in the country's tourism industry had a serious impact on its development were the Germans. Almost immediately after the collapse of the socialist bloc, the largest German travel companies like TUI and ITS began to play the role of 'benefactors No. 1' for Bulgarian resorts. The amount of loans issued to hotels located on Sunny Beach or Golden Sands, intended for their complete reconstruction, was calculated by all German investors approximately the same – 3,000 euros per 'bed'. However, each had their own offset schemes: ITS, for example, first required the hotel to fully work off the loan by providing appropriate services to its clients, and only then began to pay money for tour packages; TUI acted more humanely, taking only half of the monthly hotel income as loan repayment. Now the loans taken then have been fully repaid, and hotels packed to capacity with clients of the lending firms and therefore closed to outside guests are practically non-existent. But there remains a grateful memory of the German companies that were the first to bet on Bulgaria – and did not lose.
Following the seaside resorts, Bulgaria's ski resorts also began to attract the attention of investors. True, not all of them. Located 20 km from Sofia, the country's highest winter resort, Vitosha, is still on a meager investment diet. However, the famous Pamporovo, Borovets, and especially Bansko, which the authoritative German weekly Die Zeit last year called the most significant winter resort in Eastern Europe, have seen both domestic and foreign money flow very actively. As a result, today, for example, the total investment in the hotel sector in Bansko has long exceeded 150 million, and the creation of a huge unified tourist zone Razlog-Bansko with dozens of ski slopes and hiking trails, several SPA centers (based on the 'Katarino' mineral water), and its own golf course will surely make these places even more attractive for investors.
However, it is not the sea or the mountains, or rather not the sea and mountains in their 'pure' form, that are the main point of investment attraction in Bulgaria today. Balneology is the area that the Bulgarians themselves place special emphasis on and promote on the global investment market, making titanic efforts to do so.
Bulgaria is one of the European leaders in the number of mineral springs located on its territory, but in the development of balneological infrastructure it lags far behind Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. According to Tsveti Milanova, chairman of the National Association of Balneology and Tourism of Bulgaria, no more than 30% of the springs are currently used, the rest are in a state of investment waiting. And this despite the fact that the springs are scattered literally all over the country, many of them are unique in composition and water temperature, and investment costs, with competent marketing and a good PR campaign, can be recouped in literally three to four years, and if the project is particularly successful, even in a couple of years.
Within the framework of the National Association of Balneology and Tourism, a special department has even been created, whose main and essentially only task is to promote Bulgarian balneology in the world and attract foreign investment to this area. In particular, the department's employees have a complete list of all mineral springs in the country; any seriously interested investor will be provided with this list, a detailed description of the specific water, and a description of the state of the infrastructure adjacent to the spring. Moreover, by law, any spring must have a certificate signed by the Minister of Health of Bulgaria. And the research institute, also part of the Association, saves the investor the trouble by independently preparing a full package of documents for submission to the ministry.
One of the important areas of the Association's activity is organizing business trips for investors from a particular country. Now, as Tsveti Milanova assures, they are ready to organize a similar trip for representatives of other countries, given that the previous experience with the French and British was positive. The economic forum planned for autumn, which will take place in Sofia, will also be largely devoted to discussing the investment prospects of the balneological industry. So if potential investors do not go to Bulgaria for vacation, they can go to work – to the benefit of both sides.