Large scale investors in golf projects in Bulgaria avoid discussing the issue of competition due to the specifics of the game. A golfer normally plays 2-3 games on a course before getting familiar with it and moving on to another one. That is why the saturation of the market with golf courses is of crucial importance, according to Golomeev. Golf courses create synergy among each other, according to Manuel Ferry Sanches, investor in a ports complex which is to be built near the village of Katina near Sofia. Bulgaria will be able to make it among the destinations on the European golf tours, only if there are more high-quality golf courses, Sanches says.

Despite the strong interest in such projects, investors cannot rely on fast profit. The reasons are complex, such as high construction and maintenance costs and expensive promotion of a newly-established golf destination. Nevertheless, investments running into hundreds of millions of Euro will be injected in each of the golf courses that were designed in Bulgaria. The sports complex near Katina is not expected to turn to profit within the first ten years after its completion, Sanches forecast. A total of €500 million will be invested in the project. The three existing golf courses in Bulgaria are not profitable either and are not expected to swing to profit for years, Sanches says. It costs some €10 million to build a golf course. The revenues from the course, however, barely cover its maintenance costs, according to Golomeev. That is why golf projects are usually backed by large-scale organizations such as the Bulgarian Golf Association and the Bulgarian Golf Federation or by investors with experience in the field.

 REVENUES

 The revenues  from a golf course are generated mainly from the luxurious mansions and apartments built nearby. Investors are unanimous that on a global scale the most expensive properties are those overlooking golf courses. The average residential property price in southern Spain, which is one the most famous golf destinations stands at €3 000 per sq.m. The price of the properties within the golf courses in the region stand at €5 000 -6 00 per sq.m The average prices of residential property built as part of the Thracian Cliffs projects amount to €1500 per sq.m. The project envisages the setting up of a golf course, a golf club, a five-star hotel with a spa center and four holiday villages. A total of the properties within the Marina Village and the Hillside Village have already been sold or reserved, Elena Dimova marketing manager at Thracian Cliffs Golf and SPA resort, said. The latter usually rent the properties due to their frequent change of golf courses.

 Bulgarians are expected to account for 50% of the buyers at the Katina sports complex where properties are yet to be put up for sale. Investors in the Black Sea Rama project also expect Bulgarians to make for the majority of property buyers in the complex. The holiday villages built as part of the project will comprise of 500 houses and apartments. Construction works on the first of the villages, dubbed Belle Tower are nearly completed. The village will comprise of 28 houses.
Properties in proximity to or within the golf courses designed near Razlog are also purchased with investment purposes. Apartment prices in downtown Razlog stand at €550-750 per sq.m, while the holiday apartments within the Pirin Golf Holiday Club are priced at €1000 - 1300 per sq.m.

material provided by Radostina Markova