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The reputation of Bulgaria as a premier country for ski holidays is continuing to grow and investors are starting to take advantage of this by snapping up properties.

According to the Sofia News Agency, there is currently a large selection of plots for sale in Bansko and Pamporovo ? two of the country's finest ski resorts.

Citing the Investor.bg website, the Sofia News Agency states that offers are now pouring in as the new building season gets underway, with investors keen to find themselves a bargain that will presumably gain a tremendous amount in terms of value during the coming years.

It is an option that is increasingly appealing to investors who have become frustrated by high prices in alternatives including Austria and France, with property in Bulgaria still remarkably cheap despite the quality of the ski slopes.

Nonetheless, it is claimed that the ever-popular Bansko is seeing much higher prices than some of the other resorts, starting at around ?50 per square metre and rising to around ?150.

The report suggests that there are approximately 450 plots for sale in Bansko, with existing ski properties and off-plan projects attracting interest in equal measure. As prices begin to rise considerably in the country, off-plan investment has been tipped as a particularly sensible option, in that house price inflation can mean that investors have made huge returns on properties before they are even completed.

The ski resorts have also seen hotels and rented accommodation springing up in recent years to cater for the growing number of tourists hitting the areas each season.

With Bulgaria still seen as relatively undiscovered, many are combining the traditional ski holiday with an opportunity to explore the spectacular scenery, with the Black Sea resorts and the capital city of Sofia similarly popular.

Tourism inevitably has a significant impact on property investment and it is a factor that is expected to affect Bulgaria more than most.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that the travel and tourism sector will grow by 6.3 per cent this year in Bulgaria and by 4.3 per cent per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016.

In terms of its direct and indirect impact, travel and tourism is likely to contribute 16 per cent of GDP and 13.6 per cent of total employment this year, both of which should be instrumental in enhancing the property market.

While Bulgaria is still only 68th out of 174 countries represented in the WTTC survey, the speed with which Bulgaria has emerged as a tourist hotspot has been striking and it is a trend that can only improve the country's reputation for investment.

Bulgaria is not without problems, however, and the Sofia News Agency has reported that Delia Meth-Cohn, senior consultant for CEEMEA at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), remains concerned over infrastructure and state administration.

EU accession is a step that will be crucial in determining just how substantial the economic growth in the country will be, but speculative investors are already banking on impressive capital gains by purchasing cheap properties in ski resorts and beach resorts alike.

About 200 hotels located at Bulgaria's Southern Seaside are currently for sale, media reported.

Data from real estate sales companies shows that many owners are now looking to get rid of their hotels. The lack of return of investment, and the need to pay up construction credits has driven many to place their hotels on the market.

Most of the hotels are small ones, up to four-stories high, spreading on about 2,500 square meters. They sell at about EUR 2 - 2.5 M, but if their total floorage exceeds 3,000 square meters, the price goes up too - to about EUR 4 M.

The hotels for sale have all been recently built, and there are currently no old buildings on the market. The reason for that may be that the owners of older buildings have already returned their investments and are not willing to part with a lucrative estate, reports say.

There is a large selection of land plots for sale in Bansko and Pamporovo, two of Bulgaria's top winter resorts.

Offers are popping up as the new building season kicks in, the Investor.bg website reports.

But selling prices are notably higher in Bansko, starting at some EUR 50 per square meter and reaching as much as EUR 150.

Presently there are about 450 plots for sale.

Their number in Pamporovo is about 130. The minimum cost per square meter is EUR 20, and can reach EUR 110.

Meanwhile, landowners in Borovets are at a wait-and-see point, the article says.

They hope that the future launch of Super Borovets, an impressive investment project, will boost land prices and make sales much more profitable.

Now a square meters cost an average EUR 45.

Though Spain has quality beaches, Spanish real estate investors show interest in Bulgaria?s Black Sea resorts, Assetz Property News Service reported.

This development shows the popularity of the Bulgarian property market and its potential for growth, the Assetz report reads.

Kavarna resort will receive fairly large amount of investment in the coming years. The resort is situated north of Varna and brags a ?stunning beach? Assetz reports.

A Spanish company will launch construction works in the area by the end of the year. Nearly 80 per cent of the planned apartments have already been sold to Spaniards, willing to invest in the increasingly popular property market.

Greek news service reporter.gr wrote the number of concluded property deals in Bulgaria increased by 22 per cent in 2005. Sofia and Varna enjoyed the highest number of deals concluded.

Property prices in West European countries are on the rise, making many investors look for alternatives. Apart from financially sound deals, Bulgaria offers beautiful nature and excellent beaches, Assetz reports.

The country?s resorts provide chances for both summer and winter recreation activities, making Bulgaria attractive for investors interested in relatively undiscovered locations that have a lot to offer.

Representatives of German tourism agencies expressed interest in the measures Bulgaria will undertake to limit coastal construction in the summer, head of the state tourism agency Mario Al-Djeboury said.

Al-Djebouri participated in a press conference at the biggest international tourism exhibition in Berlin, Focus news agency reported. Bulgaria participates in the forum for the 38th consecutive time.

The increase in the number of German visits to Bulgarian Black Sea resorts will be on the rise this summer, Al-Djebouri said. Yet the all-time high from 2004 would not be achieved. Bulgaria continues attracting German tourists through alternative tourism opportunities, said he.

Spa tourism is one of the developing sectors, Al-Djebouri said. Foreign tourists also show interest in cultural, archaeological and history tourism. The state should put effort in developing these opportunities and creating the needed infrastructure, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Bulgaria 's travel and tourism sector is expected to grow 6.3 % in 2006 and by 4.3 % per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016, a survey of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) shows.

According to the survey tourism in Bulgaria in 2006 will generate USD 6725.6 million of economic activity. Bulgaria's travel and Tourism economy (direct and indirect impact) in 2006 is expected to account for 16 % of GDP and 400 000 jobs (13.6 % of total employment).

These figures place Bulgaria on the 68th position in absolute size worldwide from a total of 174 countries represented in the survey and on the 43rd place in Relative Contribution to national economies.

Travel and tourism in the Central and Eastern Europe in 2006 is expected to generate USD 244,631.3 B of economic activity. The Central and Eastern Europe travel and tourism is expected to grow 5.9 % in 2005 and by 5.8 % per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016.

Each year the World Travel & Tourism Council, together with its research partner Oxford Economic Forecasting, produces comprehensive reports that quantify and forecast the economic impact of Travel & Tourism for 174 economies and the world.

WTTC's mission is to raise awareness of the full economic impact of the world's largest generator of wealth and jobs - Travel & Tourism.

The town of Avren at Bulgaria's seaside has seen an incredible rush of foreign property buyers, mayor Krasimir Todorov said Sunday.

Over 400 foreigners have already purchased properties in the municipality that is located near Varna. In the past couple of months only, about 70 estates have been sold, the mayor boosts.

Mostly Brits and Irish nationals prefer to have their own piece of seaside heaven in the town, but France and other EU nations also have their representatives. Seven British children even study in the local school, and a fellow countrywoman of theirs teaches Bulgarians English there.

The Avren municipality includes 17 settlements, including a town by the same name. It is known for its astronomical observatory where local stargazers often do research.

Germany's first group of tourists for this season are arriving in Bulgaria's Varna Wednesday.

The 150 vacationers will find the resort city with a temperature of only 7 degrees Celsius, while snow recently fell over the country's west.

Nevertheless, Germans this year were quicker to open the holiday season. Last year the first batch arrived at the seaside in middle March.

Bulgaria hopes to join the single European currency, the euro, in 2009, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said Monday.

He made his remarks at a meeting with the visiting head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, the government press offices said.

"The government is working for Bulgaria's accellerated accession to the (EU) Economic and Monetary Union and the successful introduction of the euro in 2009," the service quoted Stanishev as saying at a meeting with Thrichet, who started a two-day visit to this country.

Stanishev said the Socialist-led three-way government was planning to maintain Bulgaria's macroeconomic stability and ensure its admission into the EU in 2007.

The main challenges before Bulgaria's bid to join the euro are inflation, soaring foreign debt and current account deficit, Trichet told a public discussion attended by diplomats, politicians and economists.

He praised the country's central bank's efforts to contain a surge in loans that has triggered concern among international lenders and particularly the International Monetary Fund.

"Bulgaria has made noticeable progress in terms of conducting a stable macroeconomic policy ... But the recent dynamic of Bulgaria's external accounts indisputably calls for enhanced vigilance," Trichet said. "This dynamic has been largely fed by robust credit growth to the private sector."

"Inflation is certainly another challenge on the road to future European monetary Union membership after entry in the European Union. Indeed, at 6.5 percent at the end of last year, headline inflation is high," he added.

The central bank said last week Bulgaria's current account deficit widened to 14.9% of gross domestic product last year from 8.5% a year earlier.

The bank cited also preliminay data showing that credit expanded by 32.4% by the end of the last year.

Inflation has moved from 10.3% in 2000 to 2.3% in 2003 and 6.5% at the end of 2005.

Sofia already experiences problems with providing terrains for new constructions, Capital weekly reports. At the same time 34 villages in the Sofia region house 6.5 per cent of the 1.2 million citizens of the capital.

To escape from the noise, traffic and lack of clean air a third of the Sofia residents would move to the suburbs in the coming 15 years according to predictions.

Most new construction occurs in the region near Vitosha mountain. In the past, the region housed only villas but is now turning into a residential suburb.

Construction terrains are still available in Sofia but the future of the property market is in the eastern and southern suburbs. Sofia would merge with the Vitosha mountain and the tendency is natural. All of this would happen gradually, property experts said.

Most consumers are still hesitant accepting a new product but with the correct marketing strategy property sales in the new suburbs would increase soon.

Construction in Sofia itself would turn to housing complexes and one-family houses, property experts predicted.

People now have more disposable income and a middle class is beginning to emerge. These people prefer calmer surroundings and the interest toward property in the Vitosha region is growing.