Власти Болгарии уделяют большое внимание развитию гольф-туризма. В стране строятся новые комплексы с полями для гольфа и разрабатываются проекты новых центров, многие иностранные компании ведут переговоры о создании гольф-полей.

В Болгарии уже существует четыре крупных комплекса для игры в гольф. Один из последних проектов, который вступает в эксплуатацию с этого года, - “Пирин гольф кънтри клуб” рядом с Разлогом в районе Бетолово, пишет “Балкан-Экспресс”.

Еще 19 проектов находятся в стадии реализации, в скором времени их число увеличится до 40. Это направление туризма признано приоритетным, поскольку климат страны позволяет играть в гольф в течение 200 дней в году, кроме того, у Болгарии мало предложений для богатых туристов - большинство туристических центров ориентировано на путешественников со средним достатком, предпочитающих отдых на побережье Черного моря.

By Theodor Troev and Kerin Hope - The Financial Times

Shiny new golf carts trundle around the nine holes already open at the new Black Sea Rama golf course, which features lush green fairways, reed-fringed water traps and a stunning sea view.

The players are mostly expatriates who have driven from Bucharest or Sofia to try out the first of three new courses set to become Bulgaria’s first golf destination.

The 18-hole links course was designed by Gary Player - his first completed project in eastern Europe - along with the nearby Thracian Cliffs course. The third, Lighthouse Golf and Spa, was designed by Ian Woosnam. The three developments are situated conveniently close to each other on the northern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, near resorts like St Constantine and Elena, Golden Sands and Albena.

“We tried to intervene with nature as little as possible, and to have only low-density construction around the golf course,” says Kancho Stoychev, managing director at Black Sea Rama. Villas around the course sell for €2,300 to €3,200 per sq m, depending on location.

“We have investors from the UK, Russia, Germany, Romania, even Dubai, but we are surprised that half of the buyers so far are Bulgarians,” says Mr Stoychev.

Bulgaria already has four golf courses. Another six are under construction and 20 more are at the project development stage. Apart from the northern Black Sea, three other districts, each with at least three courses planned, are likely to become golf destinations. One is near the capital Sofia, which has two existing golf courses and two more planned. Another is Razlog, near the ski resort of Bansko. The third is the southern Black Sea coast, near Pomorie and Primorsko.

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The  ceremony of the 2000-decare Black Sea Golf & Country Club was held on October 24 in the coastal town of Kableshkovo, Pomorie Municipality. “The terrain looks like it has been created for a golf course on purpose. But when we first came here three years ago, this site was designated for a dung-hill. Fortunately, we came to an agreement with Pomorie Municipality and now we can create something beautiful.” said Thomas Gallagher, one of the project’s investors.

The project is evaluated at 194 million euro. Nineteen million of that will be invested in infrastructure - roads, sewerage, electricity supply, and a waste-water treatment plant. The project is entirely financed by Thomas Gallagher, David Newman, and Nicholas Gallagher. At the present moment, the three men manage investments in Europe at a total value of over 1 billion euro. Pomorie Municipality joined Kabland Ltd, the joint stock venture set up to develop the project, by apportioning almost 2000 decares of land for the complex’ construction in the picturesque area of Kableshkovo.

The complex will include a championship golf course (18 holes, 850 000 sq m), various sports facilities, a four- or five-star hotel, and houses and apartments with a bed-capacity of minimum 3000. After completion of the first development phase, in three years, investors expect the infrastructure, the course, the sports facilities, hotel, and 700 villas and apartments to be finished. At the present moment, the project has a Detailed Zoning Plan and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The project will be designed by Spanish architects, and local companies will carry out the construction. Eight hundred permanent new jobs will be created with the golf complex development.

Thomas Gallagher, David Newman, and Nicholas Gallagher invest mainly in holiday and commercial properties in Spain, France, the UK, Ireland, and the USA. They are developing another holiday project in Bulgaria - Premium Holiday Complex in the coastal town of Tsarevo, comprising 270 holiday apartments. The project is in the planning stage. Investors told journalists they are willing to invest in the Super Borovets project, as well.

“Golf tourism in Bulgaria is immature. There are many golf projects, but few are completed. The situation was exactly the same in Spain some 30 years ago. And now it is a world-famous golf destination. We believe Bulgaria has a great potential to develop as an attractive place for golfers,” said Thomas Gallagher. The golf industry’s global value is estimated at 15 billion euro a year. In Europe, there are at least five million golfers. Blagoy Ragin, chairmen of the Bulgarian Hotel & Restaurant Association, said Bulgaria has the potential to welcome 10 to 12 million tourists a year. About four million tourists have visited Bulgaria since January 2007.

Four companies are seeking the approval of the local government in the Bulgarian town of Banya, in the mountainous Karlovo region, to develop spa and golf tourism in the area.

The Karlovo municipal council, which has jurisdiction in Banya, will review the submissions on July 10.

One of the entries comes from local businessman Hristo Danov. It is submitted on behalf of the Banyasoccer club presided over by Danov.

The other 3 proposals have been collecting dust in the municipal archives for quite a while. Some were handed in no less than a year ago.

The most expensive development is the 60 mln euro Banya Golf and Spa Resort proposed by the company of the same name.

The investor has invited the municipality to co-create a joint venture and contribute a 157 ha land plot valued at 12 mln levs. BanyaGolf and Spa Resort will provide a capital of 25 mln levs for the JV.

The company wants to build a golf course, a five-star spa center and entertainment venues.

Luxembourg-registered Rose Valley Investment also favors a spa tourism joint venture format involving the municipality.

The fourth proposal comes from a Dolna Banya entrepreneur Georgi Genov.

The projects will be tabled for a public discussion on July 5. If they get the popular vote, they will probably get ours as well, said municipal council chairman Stoyo Karagenski

Developers plan to shoehorn no less than 5 golf resorts between Shabla and Durankulak, a 20 km stretch on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coastline. The Shabla municipality said the projects will be developed by Bulgarian Golf Society and Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Co., both part of Varna-based economic conglomerate TIM, Litex Commerce, Bulgaria Hold and Rosinvest.

TIM is also developing a marina project in the Shabla bay area. The developers are in a rush to secure planning approval and all the necessary documents before the state designates the sites in the area that will be protected under the European Natura 2000 network. The Natura 2000 decision for the Shabla area and the area of the Durankulak lake was postponed for October 2007. Sites with approved masterplan or detailed development plan are not eligible for Natura 2000 protection.

Shabla mayor Velichko Makakov said the developers have squared their plans with the environment ministry and have no concerns about a likely wildlife protection zoning. The Shabla municipality will participate in 3 of the golf developments. The municipal council has already approved the contribution on the part of the city of 120 ha of land. The city will control 35% stakes in the joint ventures with the private developers.

The first of the 3 golf resorts is located near the villages of Vaklino and Krapets. It will be implemented by Bulgarian Golf Society over a 5-year period. The second project approved by the municipal council is the golf resort near the village of Ezerets which will be developed by Litex and Bulgaria Hold.

Shabla Golf is the third project involving the municipality. It will be developed by Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Co. on 140 ha near the village of Tylenovo. Litex and Bulgaria Hold each have one more golf resort in the area. Those projects require no sanction from the municipal authorities because they will be implemented on private land.

The Litex golf course, a partnership with Rosinvest, will take shape near the village of Krapets while the Bulgaria Hold project is located near Durankulak. Neither has building permits but the developers are hopeful they will be granted by September.

Litex Commerce recently announced it will invest some 100 mln euro in a 60 ha vacation complex near Balchik, another coastal town emerging as a major golfing destination along the Northern Black Sea coast. Construction of the 500-villa complex should begin this summer.

Local company Terra Tour Service has announced plans to invest 71.8 mln levs in a golf resort near the town of Pravets, 40 min away from the capital city of Sofia. The project will be granted a First Class Investor certificate by the InvestBulgaria Agency, the local investment promotion authority. Terra Tour Service is managed by Vasil Zlatev, father of Lukoil Bulgarian executive director Valentin Zlatev.The 60 ha resort will comprise a PGA-level course, clubhouse and 35 villas.
Terra Tour Service, which owns 4 hotels, game parks, sports venues, spa center and a Pomorie holiday complex, plans to self-finance 30% of the project cost and borrow the remainder.

The Pravets development is the 5th golf resort awarded a First Class Investor certificate after projects in Pomorie, Razlog, Kavarna and the village of Kurilo near Sofia.

The bed capacity in the Razlog/Bansko skiing area will jump to 200,000 over the next 5 years, Razlog mayor Lyuben Tatarski said in a statement based on the number of building permits issue by the two municipalities.

According to Tatarski, five new resorts will pop up alongside Razlog and Bansko which are already established destinations. The local government official tipped Betolovoto, where 2 golf complexes are already under developments, Dobrinishte, Bania, Predela and a golf hotspot taking shape just outside Razlog.

The only thing that could sidetrack the multimillion euro investments are the latest changes to the land use regulations and the uncertainties surrounding the designation of protected sites under EU’s Natura 2000 program.

The municipal authorities are campaigning against a recent legislative amendment which bars them for a period of 5 years from disposing of land unclaimed by its rightful owner. According to Tatarski, the changes should not apply to land that will be contributed to the golf course developments because it consists of rugged and rocky terrain unsuitable for farming. The Razlog municipal council has so far given the go-ahead to 7 golf course projects.

The municipality plans to set up joint ventures with each respective developer, contributing parcels ranging from 140 to 220 ha which translate into an equity stake of 20-30%. Tatarski said one work-around in case the law is not amended would be to prepare a land management plan stating that 30% of unclaimed land will be earmarked to compensate owners while the other 70% will be given over to golf resorts. Another option is to draft a masterplan where the farmland parcels slated for golf developments are rezoned as urbanised land.

The last 4 golf resorts approved by the Razlog municipality will be developed by Austria’s Nord Investment, Britain’s Emerging Capital Fund Management and the local Razlog Valley Golf and Balkanstroy. Investment is seen at 60-100 mln euro, said Tatarski. The golf resorts should be completed within 6 years.

Over 130 ha of land adjacent to the first golf resort set to partially open for business this summer have been bought up by developers at 100 euro/sq m. They are already building a number of holiday villages with local and foreign fundsDnevnik daily

Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund Limited has signed a contract with Winslow Developments to regulate and eventually develop a holiday village project near Bania, which is close to the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko, the fund said in a press release quoted by news agency Dow Jones on Monday, April 2.

Winslow Developments and the Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund have signed a 4- year contract for the implementation and management of the project. The deal, which could generate approximately 113 mln euro in total project revenue, subject to planning permission, involves the regulation of the 121,420 sq m area within the next year, the planning and construction of a holiday village, as well as the marketing and sales of the completed buildings.

The two Companies are continuing discussions concerning the arrangements for after-sale property management. The Fund announced the acquisition of the land at Banya in August 2006. The Banya project, subject to the grant of planning permission, will involve the building of a first-class holiday village consisting of chalets and spacious apartments. The village will provide all the necessary facilities to guarantee the maximum comfort of its residents such as tennis courts, swimming pools, spa centre, restaurant and bars. The development is situated on a hill offering very attractive views of the Rila, Pirin and Rhodopi Mountains.

Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund is an AIM-listed investment company focused on investment in the Bulgarian residential property market. The fund has a portfolio of about a dozen projects, mainly in Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and winter resorts.

Winslow Developments operates since 2001. The company invests primarily in Bulgarian ski resort Bansko where it has completed 5 projects and has another 2 in development. The developer has also completed a villa community in Sofia and a logistics center in the village of Petrich.

In 2006, Winslow Developments announced it will implement jointly with RREEF, the real estate investment arm of Deutsche Asset Management, the global investment management business of Deutsche Bank, 2 large-scale residential projects in Sofia. The two developments, with cost estimated at 100 mln euro, will deliver a total of 1,000 apartments.

Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast is on its way to becoming a Monte Carlo of the Balkans. As it is a matter of prestige to have a house in Monaco world celebrities are buying estates in Bulgarian resorts and complexes on a mass scale.

One of the most famous investors is Eddie Jordan, former owner of a Formula 1 team. The famous Irishmen bought his estate through a prestigious English fund,” said Christian Saraliev, Chief Architect of the municipality of Byala (northeast Bulgaria).

One of the best-known architects in the world - Norman Foster, designer of the London City Hall was hired for the project. He is also winner of the Sterling Prize for one of his other projects - the London Sky Scraper nicknamed the Gherkin because of its unusual shape. His project in Bulgaria is still kept secret but it will probably be something eccentric, say well-informed sources.

Yurii Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, has also decided to invest in Bulgaria. He plans to build a huge holiday village on 230 000 sq.m. with an outdoor track and an Olympic size stadium. The investment is evaluated on 100 mln Euro, and the constrution is expected to start at september 2007.

Other famous investors include Fernando Roig Alfonso owner of the Spanish football club Villarreal who plans to erect a modern port for yachts and a luxury holiday village with little hotels, family houses, expensive restaurants and bars, swimming pools and tennis courts. The total cost of the project is estimated at 100 million euro. Roig also plans to invest in the construction of a golf course worth between 8 and 10 million euro. According to the plans the construction has to start every moment now and will be completed in three years.

Standart Daily 

The signs are that Bulgaria, once consigned to the cheap and cheerful bracket, is now heading up-market. Several new developments are now marketing themselves as “five star” with many based around golf courses.

The Black Sea coast is still attracting the bulk of buyers. Savills recently launched a new golf and country club development called BlackSeaRama, where apartments and villas are set within a gated community around a Gary Player-designed 18-hole course near Balchik. Apartments range in size from 95 to 170sq m, and villas measure up to 230sq m. The development is set within attractive gardens with on-site amenities, including communal pools and a five-star hotel. Buyers will have access to other sports such as tennis and the development lies near the Tuzlata Spa where visitors can enjoy its thermal baths and mud baths.

BlackSeaRama prices start from €124,000 (£88,570) for one-bedroom apartments, rising to €246,000 (£175,710) for duplexes. Lemore Kayvan from Savills admits that, for a country long considered an emerging market, this is relatively expensive. “It is a lot for Bulgaria but, for something of this calibre, it’s not bad especially when compared with other golfing destinations.” A one- bedroom apartment works out at €1,300 (£928) per sq m and Kayvan points out that buyers are getting something special in a country where five-star luxury is a relatively new concept.

Response has been good despite the development being targeted at a “niche market”. Luxury may be the main attraction but as there are few other five-star amenities in the area, does Kayvan think that buyers may be disappointed by a lack of amenities off site? “In terms of infrastructure you actually don’t need much to install a golfing development,” says Kayvan. “You just need space and beautiful countryside, which Bulgaria certainly has.”

Many investors bought in Bulgaria several years ago and have seen their investments soar in value. Today’s investors might question whether Bulgaria still has growth left in the market but Avatar International’s Amar Sodhi offers an interesting perspective: “In the past investors may have paid too much for developments that were of poor quality. In the early days, most developments were sold completely off plan leaving the developer with no incentive to use high-quality finishings. Today the market has cooled slightly and developers must compete for business.”

The market may not have the frenzy of the early years but Bulgarian tourism is still booming and Sodhi says that further growth is inevitable: “As long as the hotels are full, then there’s room for investment potential.”

Ginetta VedrickasThe Independent

After several years of feverish development of holiday apartments and hotels, investors are redirecting their interest to commercial real estate.

Contrary to current trends, the three fully completed and functioning golf courses in Bulgaria are nowhere near the seaside. The first one was built in Ihtiman by the owners of SofiaAir and, having been the first attempt in the country, is not perfect. The golf course in Ihtiman was to a great extent a project of social rather than business significance. Local residents had turned the plot that the Municipality of Ihtiman sold for the purpose of building the golf course into an illegal rubbish depot. The investor recovered the land and thus relieved the local authorities of their financial and environmental problems. SofiaAir bought two more plots, respectively near Razgrad and Sliven. The company put the Sliven golf course into operation and is completing construction of the Razgrad one. SofiaAir is a co-investor in the grand project for a golf course, which is being built in the area between Bansko and Razlog. The other major investor in golf is advertising boss Krassimir Gergov. His is the third operating golf course in the village of Ravno Pole in the Municipality of Elin Pelin, which opened last year.

The investment in the golf course near Razlog amounts to EUR 62 million. The plot is in the valley of Razlog, three km from Bansko. The golf course will spread over 900 decares and will be 6210 metres in length. The built-up area will be about 120 000 sq m and will consist of hotels and apartment buildings. Mountain streams will flow through it and the golf club will be in the centre of the course.

The golf complex is already being built, and the first buildings – hotels and apartments, which are being built near the entrance of the golf course, are in an advanced stage of works. The huge investments in the golf course make the holiday villages attractive and the houses there are sold at prices ranging from EUR 1200 to 1500 a sq m. Landowners are selling plots of the 9th (second to lowest in terms of quality and fertility) category at prices of EUR 30-50 a sq m.

The logic behind the construction of the golf courses started by SofiaAir was to create a network of courses that covers the whole country. That is why they bought the plots near Razgrad and Sliven that, together with that in Ihtiman, form a kind of a ring in the country. According to SofiaAir president Lilyan Todorov, the area around the golf courses is of no importance to the golfers. In his opinion, the significant factors are the easy access and the variety, meaning lay and number of holes, and not the variety of properties that will be built nearby.

However the similar sites that have been built near the Black Sea coast follow exactly the opposite logic. They offer not only courses designed with the help of international golf pros, but also large surrounding areas for property construction.

There are over 10 investors’ projects for golf courses and they are at different stages of construction. According to the latest government data, investments this year in the more than 10 golf course projects that are currently in different stages of construction amount to 700 million leva. The largest share of these funds will go for construction of golf courses on the Black Sea Coast. The total amount of the investments in the region of the northern Black Sea coast is nearly EUR 320 million.

A first-class-investor certificate has been issued to Cabland Golf Complex for the construction of a golf course near Pomorie. The investment in the complex there is E 370 million, and the owners of the company are the registered in Malta Darnik Ltd (80 per cent) and Pomorie municipality (20 per cent). According to data provided by the manager of Cabland, Dario Tomaletti, the investments come from abroad, mainly from the Gallagher family, which invested in several golf courses in Spain. The course will be built over 2000 decares near the village of Kableshkovo.

Three investment projects for the construction of golf courses in the area of Balchik were announced. The Light House course is an investment of Pirin Golf and it was entirely designed by Ian Woosnam. The other two courses under construction in this area were designed by Gary Player – The Black Sea Rama near Balchik and The Thracian Cliffs near Kavarna.

Investors in The Black Sea Rama are Krassimir Gergov, sociologists Kuncho Stoychev and Andrey Raychev and investment company Landmark Properties. The site is being built in the area called Tabiyata and the investment amounts to nearly E 103 million. The price at which residential properties will be sold is EUR 1700 a sq m. Besides the course and the residences, the complex will offer tennis courts, a spa centre, gyms, football pitches and swimming pools.

The Thracian Cliffs complex will cost EUR 120 million and is the largest of the three projects. It is situated between the villages of Topola and Bozhurets on an area of 1400 decares. The investor here is the international company Thracian Cliffs Golf and SPA. The investors are planning to build a five-star hotel with 3000 beds.

According to Address Property Agency data, the price of land in the region of Balchik, Kavarna and Shabla ranges between E 40 and 100 a sq m due to the construction of the golf complexes. Property owners hope that investors in hotels and apartment buildings will follow the investors in the golf courses.

A month ago investment company Bulgarian Land Development purchased 85 decares of land at the price of EUR 3.3 million or EUR 39 a sq m. The plot will be used for the construction of a modern complex – Harmony Hills.

Presently 200-250 apartments in holiday complexes under construction are for sale and about as many again have already been sold in the region of Balchik and Kavarna. Apartments around the golf complexes are sold at the price of EUR 700-1500 a sq m.

The construction of a golf course and a holiday village is beginning in the vicinity of Primorsko. It will be in the area called Silihlyar. The investor in this site is Primorski Golf, in which the municipality holds 90 per cent of the shares with the contributed property of the land and the Yuzhen Golf Company, owned by Krassimir Gergov, holds the remaining 10 per cent.

Fort Nox started building a practice course and two apartment building complexes in the vicinity of Sunny Beach. The whole complex is situated on an area of 100 decares, but the course will be a small one – only 11 decares and will have only three holes. 800 apartments will be built on the rest of the area.

The company Oil and Gas Research and Production, which is based in Pleven and owned by the Varna group TIM, also announced its intention to build a golf course. They have registered the company Golf Shabla and as the name indicates they are going to work on the completion of the project of the site near Shabla. The investment here is EUR 20 million.

Manuel Sanches, President of Ferry Group that invested in the village of Katina, said that golf in itself was not profitable. Profit is made from the activities that go along with it. This is probably why so many golf projects are under construction at the Black Sea coast.

Address Property Agency stated that investors in the Black Sea coast hoped that these projects would make the tourist season longer and attract tourists of greater affluence.

Property brokers who deal in apartments in the new holiday complexes both at the seaside and in the mountains already point out golf course proximity as an advantage. The apartment buildings near the golf courses were extensively presented at the Property Expo forum at the end of October.

The golf complexes which are being built at the seaside are located next to or within the 20km zone, where old village houses and plots sold rapidly in the past four or five years. Investors bought houses in this area at the price of E 10 000 because they believed that after the coastal line is built-up the interest would shift to them. National property agencies such as Address, Foros, and Yavlena claim that there has been no demand for properties of this type for over a year.

The successful completion of the golf-complex projects in this area might revive the market of properties there and bring returns to the investors who bought properties with the intention of resale.

According to the experts from Address, if managed well, the properties near the holiday complexes may bring their owners annual rental returns of four to five per cent.

But this will happen only if the authorities in Bulgaria solve a number of major problems – the construction of roads, filtration stations and sewerage systems, electricity supply and the whole technical infrastructure.

Bulgaria Property Wise

An extravagant new ski and golf centre, designed to bring in tourists from around Europe, is to be built in Bulgaria it has been announced.

To be built in the Kulinoto area near Bansko resort, the centre will be aimed at year-round tourism, reports the Dnevnik Daily.

The ski area alone will boast 20 installations, with 20 kilometres of lift routes and ski tracks measuring 60 kilometres long.

And the golf area will include a hotel, clubhouse, commercial complexes and a golf playground.

Currently Bankso is Bulgaria’s primary ski resort with a season lasting from December 15th to May 15th, the longest of any Bulgarian resort.

Bansko is approximately 160 kilometres away from the capital of Sofia and a mere six kilometres from Razlog.

The resort has only come to the attention of skiers in the last decade or so, but in that time has become one of the most popular in Europe.

Dnevnik Daily

A golf course will be built at the total cost of 195 million euro near the resort town of Pomorie, Bulgarian southern Black Sea coast. Today Kabland OOD will receive the first class investor certificate for its project Black Sea Golf & Country Club. This is the largest scale investment project in Bulgaria, the golf course is planned to lie on 191.8 ha in the vicinities of Kableshkovo town, near Pomorie. The complex will create jobs for 800 up to 1000 people.

 Standart Daily

The combined tab of the golf projects in various stages of development across Bulgaria is around 700 mln levs, said the InvestBulgaria Agency, the local investment promotion authority.  Golf tourism is now considered a priority for InvestBulgaria which has put together a task force to review local legislation and come up with changes to bolster golf investment.
Invest Bulgaria is expected over the next two weeks to hand a First Class Investor certificate to the Cabland Golf Complex near Pomorie, on the Black Sea. The 370 mln lev project is the third local golf development to earn a First Class certificate after the golf course project of Spain’s Ferry Group and Golf Club Ibar.
Ferry Group plans to invest 260 mln levs in the construction of a golf complex near the village of Katina, in the Novi Iskar region.
Golf Club Ibar, located in the town of Dolna Banya, in the Kostenets municipality, will absorb 75 mln levs.
Currently local golfers have a choice between 3 completed courses. Another 30 are on the drawing board. They form 3 clusters: along the Black Sea coast with sites in Kavarna, Pomorie, Primorsko and Balchik; in the local ski resorts like Bansko and Razlog; and near the capital Sofia.

Dnevnik Daily 

Golf is a favorite game for many people in Europe and this is proved by the fact that only in Scotland, Spain and France there are over 500 golf courses each. Comparing this data with the situation in Bulgaria, we can indicate the availability of only three fully completed and going golf courses. The first golf club opens in 2002, located in Itiman, 40 km. from Sofia. Under the aegis of the Bulgarian Golf Federation the second golf course opens doors in the town of Sliven which is the largest one for now in Bulgaria and the third one is situated close to the small town of Elin Pelin. Golf projects have been worked out in Balchik, Kavarna ,Sunny Beach, Bourgas, Dolna Banya and Razlog and soon they will count many in our country. The perspectives in developing golf make the so called golf resorts more popular for the contractors in Bulgaria. The idea is to search for a combination between the game and the holiday in traditional (summer and winter) tourist destinations. This inevitably leads to price rise of properties, located in proximity to the golf courses and attracts solvent buyers. According to specialists, golf players are more willing to waste money than the rest of the tourists.

The availability of golf courses makes the region attractive for other investors too, which on the other hand reflects the prices of the land.

In the area of Razlog, where one of the new biggest golf courses is being built up, the owners of agricultural land (ninth category) are selling the square meter for 30-50 EUR.

The Northern Black sea coast is the other big golf zone in Bulgaria. The three big golf courses projects direct the contractors’ activity in the area around Balchik and Kavarna, where are projected or built numerous apartment complexes .Most of them are advertised for their vicinity to the future golf courses and the yacht equipment. It is stake also on attractions like rock-concerts in Kavarna, the nature reserves to the north, as well as local places of interest like the castle of the Romanian princess and the Botanic garden in Balchik.

Golf is one of the most developing sports in the world .It is sport for all ages and despite game, it is a way of life. Although in Bulgaria there are no traditions in this sport, the developing of the golf complexes and this type of tourism is forthcoming from now on.