Bulgaria: Perfect for absolute beginners

It was billed as an evening of Bulgarian culture, to be held in the modest village house of local ‘grandmother’ figure Baba Loza. But it was fast descending into a drunken debacle.

On the second night into a one-week learn-to-ski trip in the Bulgarian resort of Borovets, I’m sitting in front of a tanked-up British tourist who is singing Knees Up Mother Brown. He’s dressed in one of Baba Loza’s traditional peasant dresses and between his legs is a mildly rude home-made contraption consisting of what looks like a wooden spoon and saucepan lid held together with rubber bands. It has obviously been designed to get everyone laughing.

Far from looking on with horror, Baba Loza is grinning from ear to ear and occasionally trying to join in – she’s engineered the whole scene, rubber bands and all.

Like many Bulgarians, this canny granny is fast becoming accustomed to the UK market and knows just what Borovets’ unpretentious, price-driven customers want. In this case it meant an après ski excursion to her cosy home with a hearty meal consisting of the no-frills local specialty – potatoes. There was unlimited beer, wine and rakia – the local firewater that burns the back of the throat – followed by a bit of dressing up and singing.

The formula seems to be working, as Bulgaria is attracting record numbers of British visitors. Thomson and Crystal ski, lakes and mountains product manager Martin Harlow is hoping that by the end of the winter 2004/05 season visitor numbers to the country’s three ski resorts – Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo – will be up 60% year on year.

According to Balkan Holidays bookings to the resort of Bansko are up 70% year on year and sales to Borovets and Pamporovo are at “record levels”.

Harlow said: “Bulgaria is a very big growth area for us. Its popularity is price driven, particularly in the ski market which can be so expensive for first-time skiers. Bulgaria can be a third of the price of France, and is ideal for beginners who don’t want to spend a lot of money to find out they don’t like it.

“For hardcore skiers it gives them the opportunity to take a second holiday,” he added.

Its popularity coincides with a drive from the tourism industry in Bulgaria to upgrade its ski resorts. 

Borovets, where I stayed, is a purpose-built resort on the edge of the nursery slopes of the Rila Mountains. It’s about an hour and a quarter’s drive from capital Sofia and was originally developed by the Communist government of the 1980s.

The gentle nursery slopes and good ski schools attract lots of beginners. A multi-million euro project in the pipeline called Super Borovets, will see a five-star high-altitude resort created further up the mountains and a Lower Borovets resort in the valley. It’s still awaiting approval, but local tourism officials say visitors can expect to see major changes in the area over the next three years.

Thomson is so confident in Bulgaria’s appeal as a winter sports destination that it’s putting on 150 additional charter seats per week for the 2005/06 season. Similarly, Balkan Holidays is adding three new flights from Cardiff, Birmingham and Edinburgh for next winter.

Bansko, south of Borovets in the Pirin National Park, is a newer and larger resort with most hotels less than five years old. Some 30 million dollars has already been invested in renovated runs, lifts and nearly six miles of cross-country ski tracks. It is suitable for all levels and there are more than 100 bars and restaurants in the old town.

The third resort which is featured by UK operators is Pamporovo, to the east of Borovets. Purpose-built, it is suitable for beginners and intermediates, but smaller than Borovets and Bansko.

Balkan Holidays sales and marketing manager Chris Rand said: “Bulgaria’s selling point is the price, it’s great value with some lift passes costing £58, compared to £150 in France. Bansko has given Bulgaria a different direction because the quality of the ski facilities means its appeal is now not just price driven.”

Bulgaria’s continued investment in ski product and its excellent value for money, lends it great allure on paper.

But after an evening at Baba Loza’s and a very shaky start on my ski course, my enthusiasm was definitely on the wane. I was waiting for the moment my instructor insisted would happen, when I finally stopped falling over and managed to get down a beginner run in one piece.

That moment came – eventually – leaving me just enough time to enjoy a few hours whizzing through the pine-needled forest before I had to leave. Perhaps, like Baba Loza, that’s exactly what my instructor intended to happen so that I, like thousands of other novice skiers, would return next year.