Authentic Bansko: a four-season health destination in the heart of the Rila-Pirin Region

Lucky Bansko Aparthotel once again hosted the prestigious forum in Bansko

Bansko. “Authentic Bansko: a four-season health destination in the heart of the Rila-Pirin Region” – this was the theme of this year’s forum, which the Department of Tourism Economics at the UNWE held for the second consecutive year in the town of Bansko on the occasion of the Student Holiday on December 8.

The hosts from Aparthotel Lucky Bansko Spa & Relax, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asya Pandzherova and doctoral student Dimitar Krastev welcomed the participants and emphasized that the forum is taking place just a few days after Bansko won the Lonely Planet award for one of the best destinations in the world for 2025. The Mayor of Bansko Municipality Stoycho Banenski added that in addition to the recognition from Lonely Planet, in the last month the town has received two more prestigious awards – for the number 1 ski resort in Bulgaria and for the leading festival destination in the Balkans from the Balkan Tourism Industry Awards. The good achievements of Bansko are largely due to the successful cooperation between business, administration and local community. The municipality has established a Tourism Advisory Council, in which doctoral student Krastev participates and in which the voice and recommendations of business are heard in the implementation of various ideas and initiatives. “In Bansko, every business has the opportunity to create its own unique tourism product, which is part of the general product of the destination. The role of the municipality is to synthesize all business information, think strategically, find common uniqueness and look for new opportunities,” the mayor emphasized.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Yaneva, Head of the Department of Tourism Economics, explained that for the second year, the department team has chosen Bansko as a discussion forum to discuss important topics on the agenda in the tourism industry. “The Rila-Pirin region with Bansko as a leading location is one of the most active tourist regions and fits very well into Brand Bulgaria. Against the backdrop of difficult macroeconomic management, business, academia and non-governmental organizations have a very important role in delivering important messages and creating an effective integrated environment,” commented Prof. Yaneva. According to the experts from the department, Bansko and the region have many strengths related to health, such as clean air, snow, sun and high-quality spa services, as well as attractive anthropogenic resources such as ancient buildings, cultural, historical and religious monuments, authentic taverns and preserved traditions. The attractiveness of the destination is visible in the current tourism data. In 2023, Bansko had over 362,000 visitors, with over 1.133 million overnight stays, which is 75,000 more than in 2019. Bansko has 92 hotels, 38 family hotels, 142 guest houses, 785 rooms and apartments.

“Bansko has exceptional natural resources, diverse cultural, religious and architectural sites, a favorable climate, a well-built superstructure and is a competitively priced destination,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vesselina Portarska from the Department of Tourism Economics. Against this background, opportunities are opening up for more effective communication of the Rila-Pirin brand with Bansko as a leading location through the development of various events and festivals, the promotion of local cuisine and wine production, local tourist products through various marketing techniques, stimulating purchases in the region through open markets or specialized stores, as well as a more active presence in social networks.

In the context of the work on the establishment of Brand Bulgaria as a health destination in four seasons, Prof. Yaneva also reported on the results of the department’s activities over the past year, including several successful discussion forums on similar topics in Sofia and in leading destinations such as Velingrad and Stara Zagora Mineral Baths, the creation of a new specialty “Health and Business Tourism and Economics”, increasing interest in education in the field of tourism through regular and distance programs, participation in external events with identical discussions of partners from the business and non-governmental sectors. In order to increase the recognition of tourism and tourism education, the active digital marketing of the department was noted with indication through various topics in social networks, the online library and the promotion of tourism in four seasons to strengthen the interest of young talents in the tourism sector.

Senior Assistant Professor Dr. Kaleychev emphasized the role of luxury services in the branding of Bansko. “According to a study by the Luxury Institute, the new currency in modern business is not money, but trust. Organizations can use the trust built to improve the experiences of tourists and form higher satisfaction and loyalty to the brand,” believes Dr. Kaleychev.

This also applies to business, because entrepreneurs will not choose a destination if they do not trust that the local government has built the necessary environment for the successful development of entrepreneurial ideas. Prof. Yaneva added that it is no coincidence that the Department of Tourism Economics has chosen Bansko as an example, because the necessary trust has been created in the city between the municipality, business and local citizens.

High trust is also one of the reasons why Mistral Travel & Events is leading thousands of students to Bansko for the ninth consecutive year on December 8. On the occasion of the student holiday, the young entrepreneur and owner of MistralTravel & Events PhD student Boris Karageorgiev reported a double growth in the number of tourists that his company attracted to Bansko for the holiday, as well as an increase in the number of artists participating in the entertainment program and stimulating the revenues of local hotels, taverns and nightclubs. The agency has taken innovative approaches and initiatives to create new products, and the team’s goal is to offer over 100 original products next year with an emphasis on events such as festivals in many destinations around the world.

Ivaylo Kozhuharov and Plamena Bobeva, representatives of the consulting company Hotel Experts, also emphasized the importance of joint efforts to achieve high results in tourism. “The unification of several destinations is extremely important, especially if we want to attract tourists for a longer period and to more distant markets,” said Mr. Kozhuharov. According to him, it is also necessary to pay attention to trends in consumer demand, which has changed a lot in the last few years. Along with spa and health tourism, Bansko should also focus on MICE tourism, where tourists leave 30-40% more revenue in the destination than ordinary tourists, he believes.

Ivelin Kichukov, chairman of the Bulgarian Tourism Association (BTA), also emphasized unification, authenticity and health. “Seeing how the tourism industry is developing, the most direct way to advertise the Bansko destination is MICE and festival tourism. This is the fastest way for a tourist to come to a given destination and then stay there because of the other advantages. The problem is that we do everything ourselves, without there being unification precisely in the area of ​​authenticity,” he said. According to him, it is necessary to unify the entire sector and for authentic products to be available throughout the destination, and not just in its individual sites. BAT works closely with the Department of Tourism Economics at the UNWE on the model of unification in order to achieve greater efficiency of common initiatives and this partnership is already yielding positive results, announced Mr. Kichukov.

Of particular importance are the initiatives of investors, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asya Pandzherova. “As investors, PhD student Krastev and I chose Bansko first as a place to live, but also as a place to develop our business. Bansko is not only a winter destination, we work as actively in the summer as in the winter, thanks to the initiatives that the municipality organizes such as events and festivals,” she said. Aparthotel Lucky Bansko Spa & Relax implements many initiatives to promote the product “Authentic Bansko”. They have developed a special section called “Bulgarian breakfast” in order to promote local authentic Bansko specialties, which can be enjoyed by both foreign and Bulgarian tourists. The hotel has also developed a special section in the a la carte menus with Bulgarian traditional dishes, which are recreated in a modern way and which make a great impression on tourists. Special tours for guests to popular natural landmarks are included, as well as a visit to the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Nikola Vaptsarov House-Museum, free of charge for hotel guests, in order to promote the cultural and anthropogenic landmarks in the municipality. Also, as a compliment for good night, each guest receives a bite of banitsa with Turkish delight with a special personalized message and an appeal to return to the hotel and the destination Bansko.

According to Yulia Popova and Borislav Popov from the Bansko Innkeepers’ Association “Unique Bansko”, more entrepreneurs need to get involved in promoting local cuisine, following the example of Lucky Bansko. For 15 years, the association has been working to maintain traditions in Bansko and preserve the cultural and historical heritage, and has achieved very good results in this area. Mr. Popov also shared the idea of ​​building a monument to the local folklore group in Bansko with interactive features to attract younger tourists. The innkeepers also call for the construction of a bicycle path that would connect Bansko and the surrounding settlements, which would further develop health tourism in the direction of sports and physical activity.

Alexander Matsurev, municipal councilor and chairman of the Tourism and Ecology Commission in the Bansko municipality, addressed the participants as “friends of Bansko” who work together to develop tourism in the city. He welcomed the organizers that the forum, in addition to Bansko, also discussed the Rila-Pirin region. Back in 2010, business united with the idea of ​​developing the entire region, and many steps were taken in this direction, including the creation of the “Unique Bansko” Association in order to preserve and promote the uniqueness of the region. Many tasks remain for the future, focusing on natural resources, regional traditional culinary products, the authenticity of the destination, events and festivals. “United and together we can achieve a lot not only for the development of Bansko, but also for the entire region,” emphasized Mr. Matsurev.

The discussion forum in Bansko was held for the second consecutive year, building on the discussions about Brand Bulgaria in four seasons with a focus on communicating and conveying messages about health destinations. The team of the Department of Tourism Economics plans to turn the forum into an annual event in its calendar.