[size=75:3dj77mg1]Sofia echo 27 January 2010

Bulgaria's Golden Sands resort suffers 10M leva drop in profits

As the troubled year of 2009 made way for the New Year, marred by the global economic crisis, and the lack of tourists, one of Bulgaria's top summer destinations, Zlatni Piyassutsi (Golden Sands), reported "
considerable losses"
compared to 2008.

In a media statement, Zlatni Piyassutsi Ltd reported that profits had dwindled to 312 000 leva in 2009, 10 million leva down on 2008 .

Sales also fell by more than half, from 36.8 million leva in 2008, down to 15 million leva last year.

Service retail also was halved, at 14.67 million leva, whereas auxiliary revenue, categorised as "
others"
, had decreased "
substantially"
down to 295 000 leva.

Dnevnik daily said that the number of tourists visiting Bulgaria's summer destination fell by 40 per cent in 2009.

Finally, Zlatni Piyassutsi's debts to banks have risen to 7.8 million leva, from three million in 2008.

Towards the end of October 2009, experts in the field said that the forecast for 2009 was that Bulgarian tourism was expected to record a decrease in revenue of between 20 and 25 per cent, but as far as Golden Sands was concerned, the figures were significantly higher.

Rumen Draganov told the Bulgarian news agency that revenue in Bulgaria's north Black Sea resorts alone is down by almost 25 per cent, citing statistics from the association of hoteliers and restaurant owners.

Worse still, according to Ivan Ivanov, head of the Regional Tourist Chamber of the south Black Sea, 2010 is expected to be even grimmer, with even fewer tourists expected to arrive at Bulgarian shores. Ivanov believes that among the hardest hit will be Bulgaria's major tourist destinations along the Black Sea.