TOURISM IN BULGARIA

The most important thing concerning the tourist resources in Bulgaria is that though a small country, its tourist resources are prolific and quite diverse. The Black Sea coastline is 378 km long with more than 70 beach areas and around 30 holiday villages of different size.The coastline benefits mostly from the pleasant temperatures in July and August, low salt content of the sea water as well as the lack of dangerous for the humans plants and animals. Another valuable asset are the mineral spas and healing mud, the great number of natural landmarks (such as Kaliakra Cape, TheStone Forest, and the valleys of Kamtchia , Ropotamo and Veleka rivers). The Bulgarian mountains offer excellent conditions for both summer and winter tourism (mount climbing, mountaineering, ecotourism, skiing, etc.).Their advantage comes from the low extent of the urbanization, which is typical for other European mountains. There are around 60 resorts as some of them are very famous ski areas - Borovets, Pamporovo, Vitosha, Bansko. There are also very good conditions for hunting. Huge but not exploited enough is the potential of the mineral spas. There are more than 50 mineral spa areas, each one with its specific climate and water contents, that attract a great number of people with different health problems The most famous spa centers are Sandanslki, Hisar, St.Konstantin and Elena, Pomorie, Bankya, and Velingrad. The diversity of cultural landmarks is a mixture of the Thracian, Greek and Roman civilizations, monuments from the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and the Bulgarian Renaissance. This cultural treasure is the essential condition for developing the ‘’know the history” tourism. Great part of the Bulgarian history are its monasteries - a unique combination of nature, culture and history.Seven of Bulgaria’s most significant monuments are in the UNESCO’S World Heritage list (The Rila Monastery, the Madara Horseman, The Kazanlak Tomb, etc.). A very popular and quickly developing is the village tourism, due to an ever-increasing interest in the traditional Bulgarian customs and crafts.