Consumer Watchdog Opens Offices at Beach Resorts

The Bulgarian Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP) is opening seven new offices at summer resorts, where tourists will be able to file complaints. The offices are expected to shorten the time for KZP to respond to complaints since inspectors will be able to issue sanctions on the spot.

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The offices will be located at the largest Bulgarian summer resorts of: Sunny Beach, Golden Sands, Albena, Sozopol, Primorsko, and the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas and will be available to holidaymakers for emergencies or to file claims about cuatomer service violations at hotels, food and entertainment establishments.

This will give KZP an opportunity to monitor more closely services and goods offered at beach resorts while the presence of inspectors will make hotel and restaurant owners and merchants more likely to focus on improving service for tourists.

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Bulgaria Set for Massive Tourism Growth in 2011

Adding to the growing portfolio of positive forecsats for tourism in 2011, the Black Sea coast is now predicted to have one of its most successful seasons ever with many UK travel companies highlighting Bulgaria as their biggest growth area in recent years.

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While European travellers have become increasingly wary of traditional Mediterranean summer beach holiday destinations, Bulgaria has seen massive growth in tourist numbers since the global slump in 2008 - 2009. International statistics site Euromonitor.com state that visitors to Bulgaria are already up by some 25% in 2011 from 2010, despite the economic climate where the traditional holiday destinations like Spain are reporting negative growth in their tourist industry. The beach destinations of Sunny Beach, Sozopol, Nessebar and Golden Sands are attracting visitors from all over Europe while Bourgas and Varna are attracting increasing numbers of city break travellers.

For those seeking a summer holiday that is not overly expensive, Bulgaria hits the mark every time. A survey recently carried out by numbeo.com showed that Sofia was nearly 40% less expensive on restaurant bills than Seville in Spain and nearly 10% less on grocery prices. Similarly, this year's survey from Post Office Money Travel rates Bulgaria as the 2nd bast value-for-money tourist destination in Europe. So in an increasingly price sensitive market, Bulgaria is more than holding its own in terms of value and competitiveness for accommodation, holiday expenses, food, drink and attraction costs.

Bulgaria will benefit in 2011 from a larger share of travel companies budgets, as they once again include Bulgaria within their core beach holiday destinations. Matt Hall, Head of Product for LowcostHolidays.com has commented that, "Bulgaria holiday bookings are up 100% year on year and with an active marketing campaign in place, expected bookings for summer 2011 holidays to Bulgaria are forecast to grow by a further 200%".

With low cost airlines such as Wizzair and Ryanair increasing their flight routes, access to Bulgaria's resort destinations is now more affordable and more accessible than ever before and holidays to Bulgaria are once again becoming the best value for money option for a summer beach holiday.

Related Articles:
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MovetoBG.com - and Twitter @MovetoBG
Bulgaria Gateway - and Twitter @BulgariaGateway
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Bulgarian Key Resort Areas Gain New Status

Bulgaria's main national resorts will be declared 'Settlements with particular status' and will have a new regime of unified urban planning and management.

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Ivo Marinov, said "These settlements will include the beach resorts of Sunny Beach, Albena, Golden Sands and Dunes - and the ski centres of Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo, among others".

Currently, ownership of the local infrastructure and facilities varies from resort to resort. The largest Bulgarian summer resort of Sunny Beach, for instance, is a public association with a 75% Government stake and 25% belonging to minority shareholders. The Albena infrastructure has one owner, while Golden Sands belongs to a consortium of different hotel proprietors. In Borovets the ski facilities are owned by the Borosport company while the infrastructure belongs to the municipality, whereas facilities at Pamporovo are shared between the municipalities of Chepelare and Smolyan. Marinov pointed out that within the new plan all the main resorts will have a common organisation.

The Deputy Minister also stated that that the cabinet is considering the elimination of resort tax for hotels during seasonal periods when they are not in use.

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