People traveling across Bulgaria are usually impressed by the beautiful mountain sceneries. Mountains spread all over the country and fascinate tourists with their beauty and biodiversity. Information about this unique treasure is rarely included in tourist advertisements. Black Sea resorts where over-construction prevails and ski resort looking like some of the Sofia districts with hundreds of nightclubs and hotels are usually popularized abroad. That is why people who desire to relax turn to the mountains as the last wild nature haven in Bulgaria. Unfortunately the invasion of the concrete hotel complexes has put these places in danger, the Bulgarian Association of Alternative Tourism (BAAT) warns.

One can wander across the magnificent Bulgarian mountains for days without meeting other tourists. They can admire the crystal-clear lakes and endless sublime mountain sceneries. The Bulgarian mountains stimulate the human spirit and senses if one is communicative and curious enough. Such people should visit some of the mountain villages, where Bulgarian culture, spirit, folklore, and traditions are still well preserved. In the Rhodope Mountains, Strandja, Stara Planina /the Bulgarian name for the Balkan Range/ and Pirin, there are little villages that are true architectural pearls. In these remote settlements there are no luxury hotels, bowling rooms, or nightclubs, but one can enjoy the local comfort, silence, and preserved nature. These are also the right places to taste traditional Bulgarian dishes. “If you ask a foreign tourist, who is not a fan of the all-inclusive tourist packages, what would he or she like to see in Bulgaria, they will probably say: ‘Sceneries, architecture, old traditions and the way people live today,’” BAAT chairman Lubomir Popyordanov says.

“If one is lucky, they can leave Bulgaria with the memory of eating the tastiest tomatoes or grapes in the world – tastes long-forgotten in the West,” he explains. “Very often foreigners say that Bulgaria is a country where you don’t meet tourists in the mountains. People are surprised that in Bulgaria one can watch the stars and enjoy something forgotten in their countries –silence. In many European countries there are no places where one does not hear the sound of vehicles passing nearby. Maybe our guests will have the chance to try Bulgarian home –made dishes and the real Bulgarian yogurt. There is plenty of all this in Bulgaria. At the same time we witness the invasion of concrete hotels and roads to the small mountain villages, even entering protected areas such as the nature parks of the Rila and Pirin mountains.”
Investors’ interests, ineffective legislation and misunderstood mountain tourism development strategies can irreversibly mar the Bulgarian sceneries, environmentalists say.
According to them, the construction of resorts and hotels in the most unsuitable places without a market research, or even despite one; the cutting down of century-old forests for ski runs, the vast use of snowmaking machines; and the boost in construction of golf courses can define the future of many regions. Mr Lubomir Popyordanov told Radio Bulgaria about the way he sees the future of mountain tourism in Bulgaria.

“In a possible scenario Bulgaria can become one of the most expensive tourist villages in Europe. A village with excellent ski and spa centers, adventure parks, even boutique and luxury hotels. This is how we see the stable development in tourism. It is not necessary to build highways to all tourist landmarks. Good roads are enough. But there is another scenario, in which everything is measured in cubic meters of concrete and huge hotel complexes, in which no one can have rest. This is the way to stop the adequate development of Bulgarian tourism. Bulgaria deserves the first scenario, which focuses on quality of services and preserves the authenticity and beauty of the country. This is the only way towards a stable development in the tourist sector.”

English: Alexander Markov