The growth rate of tourism in Bulgaria is the highest in Europe. Most of the tourists visited Bulgaria in the past were interested in our ski and sea resorts, but the number of people who are interested in rural tourism, spa tourism and extreme tourism is increasing every year. At the moment there are four golf courses and by May 2006 the building of another three had begun. It is expected the number of the golf courses to rise up to 40 by the end of 2021. The mild climate can be a reason for prolonging the season on the Black Sea coast up to 8-9 months. The climate in the Valley of roses is the same. The best base for paragliding in Europe and the best base for parachuting on the Balkan peninsula is in the Valley of roses. There are plenty of opportunities for visiting caves, offroad driving, hunting and fishing, cultural tourism, Religious tourism, learning Bulgarian folk songs and dances, arts and crafts, cooking, wine tours, observing of birds, etc. With the variety of its mineral waters Bulgaria became the centre of SPA tourism on the Balkan peninsula. Bulgaria is famous for its medical herbs and its folk medicine too.

According to statistic researches, 60% of the tourists in the world are interested in cultural tourism. In this sphere Bulgaria has a lot of unique things to show . Almost everyone of the Bulgarians has once found Roman or Byzantine coins, weapons from Medieval times or other ancient objects in his land. Bulgaria is an incredible blend of past and present, of East and West, of traditional and modern.

Bulgaria’s biggest asset is the combination of a diverse and intact natural environment with a valuable cultural and historical heritage, rich traditions and livelihood and, of course, talented and hospitable people.

If we add to all the things said above the exquisite Bulgarian cuisine, where every dish is prepared by ecologically clean and non-organic products, and the world famous Bulgarian wines, one may say that life in Bulgaria is unique.

Bulgaria is politically stable country and the introduction of a currency board in 1997 stabilized the country’s economy. Since Bulgaria is to become a full member of the EU in 2007, Bulgarian laws are improving and changing in accordance with the laws in the countries in the EU.

Bulgaria has some of the most liberal foreign investment laws in the region. Foreign investment typically assumes one of the following forms: establishing a joint venture with existing companies, state-owned or private; acquiring a company through privatization; setting up a new (green field) venture; or making a portfolio investment.

Real estate prices in Bulgaria are by far lower than other European countries but the scheduled acceptance of Bulgaria in the EU on 1 January 2007 provides unprecedented growth potential that will certainly boost the prices of Bulgarian real estates in the near future. Bulgarian market of real estate is still unexplored and undeveloped to a certain extent, which makes it very attractive and profitable.

For the period 2000-2005 the foreign investments in Bulgarian real estates are for about 560 million euro. The corporations which have special investment purposes and which raise funds for investments in real estates are not included in this statistic. According to the board of financial supervision , these corporations are 18 and their funds measure up over 50 million euro towards March 2006.

The Bulgarian state was founded on the present-day territory of Europe in 681 and ever since that time the name of the country has always been the same.

Here are some of the important dates and events in the history of Bulgaria: