Words of a Broken Mirror: Rural Tourism Means Buying a Village

Catch Speedy NOW! Advanced Hosting Solution for Bloggers

Be the first to read my latest entries on the New WOBM Blog!!!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Rural Tourism Means Buying a Village

For some, entering the tourism market in a country means investing in a local villa, or hotel, or building one of the above mentioned. For others, it means to first buy and entire village.

“An Italian businessman is planning to buy up a deserted village near the southern Bulgarian town of Ardino, so he could turn it into a centre for rural tourism. A total of two people now live in the village of Diadovtsi, although these used to be more than 600 a quarter of a century ago, private bTV channel reports. Most of the inhabitants have left for Turkey, leaving their properties behind.” Full story here - source Sofia News Agency.

You’d think someone investing that much has been researching the subject and has chosen from many similar villages (I am sure this is not the only abandoned one in the world). According to Sofia News, however, the Italian investor Paolo Bartali found the village by chance, fell in love with the scenery and the style of the remaining buildings and decided to turn it into a profitable tourism center.

I wonder, does passion and lots of money suffice to make an investment profitable? No proper previous research, prospecting or any sort of decision that is not “gut feeling”…We will have to wait and see.

Tags: Tourism, Rural Tourism, Bulgaria

posted by Alina @ 4:45 PM

10 Comments:

At 9/01/2006 5:31 PM, yaser said…

It seems like a good idea; renovating a deserted village and transforming it into a site for tourists
I hope he succeed:)
At 9/01/2006 6:24 PM, Alina said…

As it's close by, I hope so too! I would go visit just to see what he accomplishes! Let's wish him good luck.
At 9/01/2006 8:17 PM, Anonymous said…

Some buy villages, some build them. There was a guy in Spain that build a village, with all new high buildings somewhere near Madrid. He also built some schools, hospitals and lots of new modern spaces for shops and so. It seems that there is place there for 30.000 persons to live. He will surely get his profit as there are lots of people that would like to live in a modern but quiet place like that, out of the noisy Madrid.
At 9/02/2006 8:29 AM, Alina said…

Well Sim, that is Madrid and a great business idea indeed. This is a deserted village, and I think chances are a bit different. However, given to proper building idea, the proper close by city, all can lead to immense profits.
At 9/02/2006 12:19 PM, doshar said…

passion and alot of money might not be enough ro make a profitable investment.... but alot of money can make you afford going after your passion... if it works out... that is one lucky break... if not... well he probably can afford to follow his gut feeling once in a while just to liberate himslef.

it is amazing that alot of experienced business men have this golden touch, where their gut feeling usually leads them to tons in profit. we will wait and see I guess
At 9/03/2006 4:42 AM, Mr. N. said…

Came across your blog by chance and found it to be interesting.
The idea in this post sounds appealing (ie. more "$"), but, home is always priceless!
At 9/03/2006 4:43 AM, Mr. N. said…

btw. I loved this:
"...Somewhat like a ghost: those who believe in me, cannot see me and those who see me do not believe I actually exist..."
At 9/03/2006 8:08 AM, Alina said…

Doshar, you are right, a gut feeling and enough money invested properly afterwards can turn almost anything into a goldmine. I am quite curious what will happen next.

Mr. N, yes, home is always priceless. But who would not love a whole village to choose where to spend vacations and then also make money out of it :)

Yes, I thought the phrase was prettly intrestingly put at the time. It is not always happening, however I feel it's true often enough to be pissed by it at times. :)
At 9/03/2006 9:14 AM, S A J Shirazi said…

Passion and lots of money can do wonders and once a trend picks up, it may be driven by demand, I think.
At 9/03/2006 7:07 PM, Alina said…

True Shi, you only need to give the certain people the idea a place is trendy, and they will all run there.