22 December 2008 | In an unprecedented initiative to encourage tourism, 6,000 lift passes for the three main winter resorts in Bulgaria – Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets, will be given out for free within the country and abroad.

The free passes will be included in tourist packages for visitors who make a reservation for at least six days in the periods January 15 to February 1 and March 1 to 31. The majority of the passes – 4,500, will be distributed abroad, on the Russian and British tourism markets, and the rest – 1,500 will be given out in Bulgaria.

A six-day lift pass at the resorts costs around 200 leva (around 100 euro), which means that tourists who purchase the certain type of travel packages will be saving that amount.

The passes’ distribution will take place within the framework of a public-private partnership between Bulgaria’s State Agency for Tourism (SAT), travel agencies and the resorts’ lifts and facilities operators. The agency will cover 70 per cent of the value of the passes and the rest will be paid by the travel agencies and private businesses.

“We all want to attract as many tourists as possible to the Bulgarian ski resorts [next] year, which will surely be a difficult one,” Anelya Krushkova, SAT’s head said, quoted by the Focus News Agency.

The initiative is being carried out precisely during the winter season, since it is relatively critical because of the fact that a large number of the hotel beds during this period fill up at the last minute, Krushkova added.

Read more about Bansko on BalkanTravellers.com: Travelogue on Bansko and its culinary delights; Route planner, complete with information on how to get there and hotel listings; Information on ski and snowboarding facilities and lift prices; Information on Pirin Mountain and National Park.

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