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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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Last year's war in Kosovo is forgotten -- or at least the Balkan nations hope so. So are the earthquakes and the fears of terrorist attacks in Turkey and the anti-Westerner feelings and anti-American demonstrations in Greece. The Balkan countries expect a stronger tourist season this summer and more foreign tourists than a year ago.

In Turkey nowadays people want only one thing -- no major earthquakes or at least not until the end of summer. In August, 1999, the tourists' influx stopped after a huge quake hit the North-Western parts of the country, killing almost 15,000 and leaving many more homeless.

In neighboring Bulgaria the mood is similar, but the stress is put not on natural disasters but on the international situation. "God keep us safe from another war like that in Kosovo which ruined our business in 1999," say Bulgarians in the tourist industry. Bulgaria, an impoverished Balkan country of 8 million, now desperately needs a good tourist season to fill the state coffers after the failure to reach an agreement with two foreign companies on the big privatization deal for the state communication company.

Greeks also want to forget their experiences from 1999. The war in Kosovo and the unprecedented in recent years wave of anti-Western feelings made incomes from the foreign tourists fall sharply. This year the situation in Greece is very different. The country was invited to join the European Monetary Union and the anti-Western attitudes are washed away or at least it seems so.

Croatia, among the biggest losers after four consecutive Yugoslav wars of independence, also expects a very strong tourist season on its Adriatic coast. This summer for the Croats is particularly important because their country enjoys a very positive image in the Western media. With a new pro-western leadership, Croats want to recover the past glory of their sea-resorts and islands which once were called the "Pearls of the Adriatic".

Romania, to a lesser extent, also expects a better season for its tourist industry than in 1999. The bad news for the country's image is the almost permanent political crisis, the social unsecurity and the expectations that the former communists can win the President and Parliament elections scheduled for the autumn.

So far the facts show that the optimist expectations for the increase in the foreign tourists' influx are right. There are more tourists in Greece and Turkey than a year ago. At the Bulgarian Black Sea shore both the number of foreign tourists and the cash left exceed the last year data. Some hotels are fully occupied with Germans since April, something unheard in the recent years. The same is true for Croatia.

Spain, which is among the three biggest tourist countries in the world (with the USA and France) fears that it could lose up to 4 million tourists this year compared to 1999. Most of them will prefer to spend their vacations in the Balkans and in the North Africa, where the prices are more attractive.

Western European tourists will be surprised by the low prices in Bulgaria compared even with some of its Balkan neighbors. All-inclusive (full board) offers in the renovated 3-star hotels could go down as low as 15 dollars per night. In the 5-star hotels or resorts during the August the all-inclusive offers could go as low as 33 dollars per night for an adult (25 percent discount compared to 1999)*.

In Turkey prices in general are higher than in Bulgaria, but the services are of better quality. The all-inclusive offers for a single adult in a 3-star hotels at the Mediterranean shore are 20-25 dollars per night and for 5-star hotels - 40-50 dollars per night.

In Croatia and Greece prices are even higher than in Turkey but this can be justified by the better infractructure, social tranquility and better images of these countries (some western tourists are still afraid of going to Turkey because they fear Kurdish attacks).

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*Warning! For all those who are ready to pack and go to Bulgaria here is some useful advice.

• Never go alone to this country without having someone there to count on.
• If you don't have a local friend, it is preferable to pass your vacation within an organized group rather than trying to find out individually where to go and how to get there. Even Bulgarians could take a wrong road and lose themselves so don't turn your vacation into a nightmare.

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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia.