Marc Girardelli Revealed as Bansko’s Owner

29th December 2018

Category : News

In an unexpected development, the answer to the long standing question of who owns the controversial Bansko ski area in Bulgaria has come to light – the former World Cup ski racer Marc Girardelli from Luxembourg has claimed he owns the resort.

The ownership of Bansko has long been a subject of mystery and something used by the area’s detractors to criticise its business model.  It was known that the resort was owned by a consortium based in the British Virgin islands, but not who the consortium were, leading to speculation about the type of money being invested.

Since its expansion in 2000 Bansko has been criticised for expanding on top National Park/UNESCO World Heritage site land.  It has also been very successful and wants to expand again to deal with peak time lift queues which local reports say can be up to three hours long.

There had been increasing pressure and Bulgarian government action to try to uncover the resort’s owners in recent months.

Mr Girardelli revealed in the TV interview that he bought the ski area in 2016 from a ‘major consortium active on three continents’ and said he got the resort at what her felt was a good price as the consortium were keen to sell due to the bad publicity Bansko was receiving.

He said the resort has wanted to build a second major lift for a decade but has been unable to do so so far.

Åre To Make Public Recycling A Legacy of 2019 World Ski Championships

The Swedish hosts of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships this winter have announced that a recuycling programme being put in place flor the event will continue indefinitely afterwards on the resort as a legacy of the Championships.

Åre 2019 has been working to minimise waste and reduce single-use articles and for the past 18 months has been working together with the local municipality and the ski resort management on improving recycling in the public spaces in the town of Åre.

The work has resulted in the purchase of new recycling containers and services for the public areas by the Municipality of Åre that will be implemented in time for the Championships and will be extended into the other residential centres within the wider municipality.

“Åre 2019 has been working very proactively and intensively on the sustainability of the Championships, and we are happy to certify the event as Eco-labelled event”, confirmed Malin Larsson Salo, responsible for the certification at Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Tidy).

A total of 50 000 meals will be served during the Åre 2019 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. As one of the ways to reduce waste and minimise the number of disposable articles during the Championships, Åre 2019 has chosen to operate its own kitchen. This kitchen will prepare meals for all the volunteers and staff, as well as the media and VIP guests. By assuming responsibility of the entire process from procurement to waste management of the food and beverage provision, Åre 2019 organisers can ensure that as much as possible is recyclable and compostable, that food waste is minimised through targeted procurement and careful meal planning, and that all packaging and food waste is recycled.