Top Skiers Open Season in Bulgaria's Bansko
2007-12-17 15:00:25Alpine ski top stars were guests to the official opening of the new 2007/2008 ski season in Bulgaria's biggest winter resort Bansko on Saturday.
Six-time Olympic and five-time world ski champion Janica Kostelić together with four-time Olympic champion Kjetil André Aamodt and 5-time world champion Mark Girardeli demonstrated their skills on the hardest ski run bearing the name of the legendary Alberto Tomba.
The guests were very pleased by the conditions the resort provides and by the plenty of snow that already attracted skiers to the mountain long before the official season opening.
"You have created a world-class resort in a very short time. It is pleasure for me to be here and be a part of this great show," said Aamodt.
Bansko in Bulgaria is ready to receive 800,000 visitors and 15,000 of these tourists will need accommodation this winter. 10 new hotels and holiday sites will open their doors to tourists.
In related news Investors' interest in Bansko remained high, Bansko's mayor Alexander Kravarov said. For now the municipality has stopped issuing construction permits and issues ones only for sites that submitted their documents a year or 2 ago. The mayor said the issuing of permits would begin again after zoning plans were ready.
EU funds are to be used to pay for a series of infrastructure improvements in Bansko. According to The Sofia Echo, up to 280 000 euro are to be put towards upgrades to the road network in the Bansko municipality. Although the region is highly popular as a skiing resort, Kravarov believes that transport links in outlying areas could benefit from extra investment. Money will also go towards restoring old buildings such as St Trinity Church in the old quarter.
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