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Property: Bulgaria’s holiday homes market develops |
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| post date: Sunday 24th of September 2006 |
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| On August 24, Colliers International published the first market overview of the Bulgarian holiday homes market.
The report documents significant developments in recent years in both mountain and coastal resort areas.
The holiday homes market in Bulgaria experienced significant development in the past year in these areas.
Demand for holiday homes in the country has taken off in recent years. The upcoming EU accession, the growth of the tourism industry, and the comparatively low prices are among the main factors driving demand.
Private middle-class individuals from Western Europe, mainly the UK and Ireland, account for most of the demand.
The overall absorption rate of holiday homes developments as of June 2006 was estimated at 60 per cent in the mountain resorts and at 56 per cent for the coastal region. Bansko and St Vlas led demand in the mountain and coastal regions respectively, with absorption rates of 70 per cent and above.
The supply of holiday homes in Bulgarian mountain regions is concentrated mainly in Bansko. The small town accounts for 64 per cent of the holiday homes in the Bulgarian mountain resorts, equivalent to 8000 units, Colliers found.
Supply of homes in the mountain regions amounted to more than 12 000 units as of June 2006, which represented a 152 per cent increase from June 2005.
The supply of holiday homes on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is still mainly associated with developments located in the larger resorts of Sunny Beach, St Vlas and Sozopol. However, new supply is slowly moving to medium-size and smaller resorts. Coastal developments vary in size, some offering as many as 900 units.
The holiday homes supply has increased by more than 6000 units in the past year. As of June 2006, holiday homes in coastal resorts amount to more than 22 500 units in various stages of development, from off-plan projects, to those scheduled to break ground, to already existing properties. The increase in supply represents 37 per cent growth from June 2005.
Despite the fact that supply has been growing faster than demand in the past year, sales prices of holiday homes have remained stable overall.
Prices of holiday homes vary according to several criteria, the major ones being location, quality of the resort, range of facilities, and the stage of completion.
Prices are higher in already established and popular holiday locations like Sunny Beach, Golden Sands, and St Vlas on the coast. In the mountain regions, Bansko commands slightly higher price levels than Pamporovo and Borovets.
Sales prices also vary according to the level of completion. When offered off-plan, prices of holiday homes are between 15 and 30 per cent lower than when the project is completed. When offered during stages of rough construction, units are sold at prices 10 to 15 per cent lower than for the finished product.
TOURISM BAROMETER: BULGARIA HAS OPPORTUNITIES FOR HEALTH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
09:00 Mon 04 Sep 2006 - Ivan Vatahov
Bulgaria has opportunities to develop health tourism but until now progress has been chaotic.
Health tourism is nothing new. It has been pursued for many years by both poor and rich countries. Its prospects are usually not fully understood and as a result, there are poor countries with very well-developed health tourism, and rich states, where no one cares about it.
Usually, health tourism is divided into two main types - medical treatment and balneology. Regarding balneology, terms used also include spa, wellness and others. However, it is all balneology and only methods used vary among the different facilities.
Bulgarian doctors believe that this country has enormous potential for developing medical treatment tourism. There are some excellent medical and dental centres, as well as privately-owned hospitals, in Bulgaria.
Medical treatment in Bulgaria is used by Greeks, Serbs and Macedonians in cities and towns like Sofia, Varna, Rousse, Vidin, Blagoevgrad, Sandanski and Gotse Delchev. However, no organisation exists and there is no ranking of services.
So far, medical treatment services offered to foreigners in Bulgaria have included dentistry, cosmetics and plastic surgery, and some eye operations. But, there are many other medical procedures that are lot more expensive and could be offered to wealthy foreigners for a price that is much lower and less time-consuming than in their country of origin.
In the UK for instance, a myoma operation should be planned for as much as three years ahead. The treatment of sterility in Spain is delayed by an average of five years when it is financed by the country’s health insurance fund.
The waiting list of sick Europeans will continue to be long in their own countries. This is a chance for Bulgaria to demonstrate it has good medical practitioners and well-developed clinics. The country however, has to advertise that it offers medical treatment at lower price but with high quality.
Meanwhile, state authorities are struggling to advertise Bulgaria as a tourist destination, but with as less funds as possible.
Mario al-Djebouri, chairman of the State Agency on Tourism, gave a briefing in Austria on August 24 on trends in the development of tourism in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe. Al-Djebouri was among participants in the second conference of the European regions in the Austrian city of Salzburg.
His presentation was dedicated to the potential for cultural and eco tourism in the countries of Eastern Europe. Emphasis was laid on Bulgaria’s strategic goals in developing alternative forms of tourism, on the distribution of tourist products and the mobility in the country, on target marketing and promotional activities in the future.
Al-Djebouri said that Bulgaria was orientated towards developing alternative tourism, while preserving the importance of traditional summer and winter tourism.
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| source: sofiaecho.com |
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