Interview with a Turkish Hotel in Bansko

Hilmi Anıl Sezer
Sep 12, 2017
5 min read

Our project includes collecting information about Bulgaria, especially around Razlog, as a traveler, and presenting them to you in our own eyes. For this purpose, we are conducting various interviews with the local people while gathering information about the region.

As we walked in Razlog, we suddenly encountered Orhan Bey and had the opportunity to meet him. Mr. Orhan, who worked at Regnum Hotel in Bansko, expressed that he would like to welcome us at the hotel. We wanted to take this opportunity to learn more about Bansko and to learn how a Turkish hotel has a position in Bulgaria.

When we went to the hotel, Metin Akifov greeted us. We asked him questions about Bansko, tourism activities and Regnum hotel. In our highly entertaining interview, we received some valuable information about Bansko.

We share with you. Let's look!

First of all, could you introduce yourself?

My name is Metin Akifov. I have worked in Europe around 20 years. I also worked in Carribean, Africa and Kenya. I could stay for 2 months because of the government policies in Kenya and the negativity of social conditions outside the hotel. I also worked in France around 7 years. Thanks to French culture, I absorbed the notion of human rights and service understanding during these years. It is important for me that there is no discrimination among the people even if they have different religon, colour, nation and language in France. In addition, I can speak 5 language such as French, Russian, English, Turkish and Bulgarian. At the same time, I have a Belgium nationality as well as Bulgarian. Now, I have been working in Bulgaria for 9 months. My job at the hotel is Guest Relation Maneger. If the customers have a problem, for example, they do not like breakfast, they do not like music, and so on, in this case, I am commissioned. I also take care of the staff at the same time. My working methods are closer to European standards. Here, management sense is different. For example, I do cocktails behind the bar, clean the surroundings, sit with the guests and chat, and the Bulgarian people are surprised because they are not accustomed to it. The question in everyone's mind is why a manager makes a cocktail, why does the toilet clean? However, this wasn’t the case in France. The people of France are quite accustomed to what I do. If you want to see the problems, you have to do it. If you do not know, you can not determine what the problem is.

On what dates does your hotel start serving during the summer and winter seasons? Which factors influence the guest intensity?

The winter season starts in December and continues until 15 March. In this process, we have an uninterrupted visit. Of course the weather also affects the intensity. The density of the snow is directly proportional to the density of the guests. This season was my first season for me in Bulgaria. Despite being the first one, it was a great start because the weather was quite snowy, it was -20 degrees. Our hotel is closed for 1 month in June because of renewal work. During the summer season, ecoturism activities make Bansko attractive like trekking, hiking, camping and photograpy etc. We opened the Hotel on 12th June and we’ll close it on September 9th. Since we are about 1000 m high, we are experiencing radical weather changes during the day. Guest density depends on these changes.

How is the guest density during the summer season? Why are your guests choosing Bansko during the summer season? What kind of events are held during the summer season?

We are full from August 15th to September 15th. I meet for the first time in the sense of ecotourism. People are looking for comfort and being nested with nature in recent times. The area here is terrific and the oxygen quality is excellent. Comfort is not a measurable unit of money. In addition, In the summer, various festivals are organized in Bansko. For example the Balkan festival, the Jazz festival and the Opera festival.

These festivals play an important role in popularity of Bansko in summer.

Which countries prefer Bansko the most?

We prepared a list regarding this. According to this list, the top four are Bulgarian, Romanian, Israeli, and Greek. Turks are on number 6 . It is an advantage to arrive by bus for Turkey. All in all, we are planning to attract more Turkish tourists. And are you ready? Americans are located on number 12. It is quite satisfying for us to be intensely preferred for thousands of kilometers. The reason why we draw tourists from different countries is that the quality of the runway is very good and you can make a total of 100 km here.

As far as we know, food and alcohol are cheaper than other European countries in Bulgaria. What is the contribution to tourism?

Since alcohol is cheap, alcohol is driving tourism. For example, alcohol prices in Scandinavian countries are incredible, and so are the meals. Therefore, It makes us attracted by the fact that food and alcohol are quite cheap compared to northern European countries. But being cheap makes guest profile very large. We are host to many people. Especially in the semester period of Turkey, young people show great interest. We organize parties during these periods. 90% of our guests are on holiday without any trouble.

It is said that there is prejudice against the Turks in Bulgaria. Is that right? If true, does this affect the perspective of the local people to the hotel?

I can look at this issue quite broadly. Here Bulgarians, Turks, Muslims and Christians live side by side. There was a positive discrimination in the past and it was forbidden to speak Turkish and Muslim people. I do not see such a problem right now. I see prejudices as fascists. Today I can say that I am Turkish and Muslim without hesitation. There is no problem in face to face communication. However, there are fascistic attitudes on the background. In addition, this is not just about Bulgaria. This is a wave that exists in this world.

How do you reflect Turkish culture in your hotel?

We have Turkish cuisine in our hotel. I like Turkish cuisine. It is very rich and has very wide flavors. I have visited many countries and have had the opportunity to taste their food. However, I could not see anywhere like Turkish cuisine. We send some of our cooks to Turkey in order to learn Turkish cuisine. We has also a cook from Turkey.

How are your guests interested in Turkish cuisine?

Not only in Bulgaria but also in different countries prefer our hotel. For example Italy, England, Greece and so on. The reaction of the arriving tourists to us is generally '' Wow! There is the Turkish Kebab '' in the form of surprise and rejoicing. And it makes us happy.

What is the population of Bansko? How does population density change over the seasons?

The general population of Bansko is around 6 thousand. With the festival realized, the number of people per week reach 50 thousand people. Most people prefer this city due to festivals. In the winter, Bansko visits 60 thousand tourists a week. In the new year, there were 100 thousand people last year. For example, we were full this year and we did not have a place. When hotels is full in Bansko, Banya and Dobrinishte are preferred for accommodaiton.

What activities can your guests do during the winter, other than skiing?

In the winter, tourists usually prefer restaurants, music venues and places with mineral waters. And Velingrad is one of the preferred places. There are mineral water at 48-50 degrees and spa centers there. People prefer these mineral waters and spa centers to find health. In a village called Belitsa, you can see that bears have a living space. I can say that the places I said were places to visit.