Bulgaria's famous Bansko mountain resort, once a haven for winter sports but empty in summer, is now targeting year-round buyers and tourists, the Independent reported on Wednesday.

The author Graham Norwood says since 2003, some 3,000 Britons have bought homes in Bansko, the resort town that sits 150km south of Bulgaria's capital, Sofia.

"Many have done so because of its reputation as a top central European ski area - it has bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics and has 64 kilometres of slopes."

"As a ski centre, Bansko holds its own with French ones but until now, there hasn't been much to do outside of the season. That's going to change with the arrival of an equestrian centre, a golf course designed by British star Ian Woosnam, and bike and hiking trails," says Mike Wellings, a London financier-turned-developer, whose firm, Winslow Developments, has built hundreds of flats for British buyers in Bansko.

Wellings' latest scheme - Mountain Residences, 177 apartments ranging from GBP 39,000 to GBP 110,000 - sold out within a month this spring.

The author comments that Bansko and the other major resort Borovets are like Spain four decades ago.

"Construction and improvements are going on apace and the tourism industry is booming after decades of stagnation - there was a 62 per cent rise in British visitors to the ski areas last year, according to official Bulgarian figures."

Eighty per cent of foreign visitors to Bansko are from Britain and Ireland, and there are daily flights by budget Wizzair from Luton, and BA and Bulgaria Air from Heathrow.

"This comes on top of summer tourism and holiday-home sales in Black Sea resorts in the north of Bulgaria. These are already year-round hot spots but there are complaints from some buyers of few facilities apart from the hotels and beaches, and many new flats are built some distance from the best resorts."

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