On April 28 th, the round table "Moscow - the South Tyrol: Resuming the Prospects for the Development of Bilateral Cooperation" with the participation of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen.
The moderators of the round table - the Vice President of the MCCI, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, and Mr. Lucas Pihler, the Director of the Center for Development of Relations between the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and Russia, named after Nadezhda Ivanovna Borodina in Merano, welcomed the assembled online participants. "We will make every effort to develop cooperation between our Chambers and their regions," promised Mr. Vardanyan in his opening speech.
"Today our cooperation has reached a new plateau. The Russian interest in the South Tyrol has peaked, we have had trade relations for a lot of years. Many of my colleagues are concerned about the continuation of economic sanctions, which should be abolished as soon as possible ... We are striving for a deeper understanding in the field of not only culture, but also economy," said the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano - the South Tyrol, Mr. Michel Ebner. He referred to the Cooperation Agreement to be signed between the MCCI and the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen and expressed the hope that this document will "give the impetus to the solution of the existing problems".
The Italian Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Pasquale C. Terracciano, in a welcoming video message, outlined the need for the support of the tourism sector, "which should become the driving force of our economy," and expressed hope for the end of the pandemic. He also spoke about the tourist attractiveness of the South Tyrol and urged future guests to plan their trips with the help of "Your Italy" website.
The Consul General of the Russian Federation in Milan, Mr. Dmitry Shtodin, described what categories of Russian citizens, under conditions of the coronavirus, as exceptions, continue to possess visas, and noted that the coronavirus virtually "stopped" external tourism (according to him, before the pandemic, Italy was visited by 1 million Russians a year, Russia - by 120-140 thousand Italians), while partly stimulating domestic tourism.
Mr. Sergey Cheryomin, the Minister of the Moscow City Government and Executive Officer of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, noted, in his video address to the round table participants that "we have been discussing with our Italian counterparts the necessity to provide a new impetus to our relations". He thanked the Consulate General in Milan, the MCCI, CCI Bolzano/Bozena, the representatives of the business community and tour operators of both cities for their help in organizing the event and wished the participants prosperity, health and success in cooperation.
Despite the fact that tourism has been virtually stopped by the pandemic it is a good time for the opportunity to share experience, including the field of domestic tourism, believes the President of the MCCI, Mr. Vladimir Platonov. In his speech, he underlined that Moscow has achieved successes in the sphere of hospitality in recent years: "There used to be two Moscows - one for its residents, the second one for tourists.
Currently, Moscow has been redesigned to accommodate Muscow’s residents, and this can be used by foreign tourists, whose numbers have increased in recent years. The pandemic has made us understand the importance of tourism development". Mr. Platonov reminded that 10 Guilds of the MCCI are involved in the tourism industry, which provide jobs in different spheres. "I am sure that after the opening of the borders, our close cooperation will help Russians and Italians visit each other," he summarized. The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry has coordinated an Agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the autonomous province of Bolzano. Its future signing is planned toward the end of this year.
Mr. Arnold Schuler, the Head of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Tourism and Emergencies, called the South Tyrol "the pillar of the tourism industry" and "the economic axis of the region." "We are a special place with a small population and enormous potential," he asserted, talking about the tourism advantages of the region.
Mr. Vladimir Dmitriev, the Co-Chair of the Russian-Italian Civil Society Dialogue Forum, called this round table a very timely event and stated that its format "allows us to look into the future with cautious optimism, because, despite the pandemic, contacts continue on different levels. He noted the long-standing and productive nature of Russian-Italian cooperation and spoke about the work of the Dialogue Forum during the pandemic, in particular, about the "Russian Roads" project.
"This event is of fundamental importance for the development of the Russian-Italian cooperation,” - said Mr. Alexander Markov, the Deputy Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in the Italian Republic. “Tourism is a catalyst for the revival and development of mutual trade relations. Moreover, the sphere of tourism affects the development of 50 branches of economy".
He spoke about the potential of Moscow and Tyrol for the enhancement of business tourism, and recalled that from January 1, 2021, in Russia, the Federal Law introduced an e-visa, - the innovation that should give impetus to the intensive development of tourism.
The mayor of Bolzano/Bozen, Mr.Renzo Caramaschi, shared his impressions of his visit to Moscow, which opened to him "unknown pages of history.” In his opinion, "the mutual attraction of the South Tyrol and Russia is fuelled primarily by the cultural component.”
The second part of the event was dedicated to the presentation of tourist potential of Moscow and the South Tyrol.
The Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Committee of Moscow, Ms. Tatiana Sharshavitskaya, spoke about the activities of the Committee, and recalled that Moscow has declared itself an "important tourist destination," which two years in a row won the main tourist prize - the “World Travel Awards” in the category of the "Best Destination City for Tourism.”
"We have defined for ourselves the trends of future tourism development - it is digitalization and individualisation. All the tools are now aimed at creating the conditions for an individual tourist", - explained the speaker and disclosed what tools are used to enable this. According to her, Moscow now ranks first in Europe due to the activation of domestic tourism.
The Sales Manager of the “South Tyrol IDM marketing agency” in the Russian tourist market, Ms. Deborah Karlin, spoke about the sights, types of recreation and unique cuisine of the South Tyrol.
Mr. Klaus Schmidt, the Head of Management Consulting at “HGV”, gave a brief overview of the history of tourism development in the region, which now has more than 5 thousand hotels, noting the growing demand for luxury hotels. He talked about how spas are equipped, introduced the audience to the logistical possibilities of the South Tyrol and the equipment of its mountain resorts.
The Head of the Moscow office of the Italian National Tourism agency “ENIT”, Ms. Irina Petrenko, spoke about the South Tyrol in terms of the development of the "niche" tourism.
Ms. Irina Kolyshkina, the Director of the Italian Department of the “Spectrum Travel” company, introduced the audience to the prospects of both winter (more than 1200 km of skiing tracks) and summer holidays in the South Tyrol.
Mr. Franz and Mrs. Simon Bergmann of the “Bergmann Touristik”, demonstrated their portfolio and spoke about the precepts of their company.
The Sales and Marketing Manager for Russia and the CIS - the “Travel Media” - of the South Tyrol, Ms. Dariana Boyarintseva, spoke about the projects, organized for tour operators and travel agents and cooperation with IDM.
The ATF tour operator, Mr. Oliver Leitner, introduced the audience to his working plans.
The “Alpina Live” representative, Ms. Anastasia Shchelyleva, spoke about the promotion of the spring-summer and summer-autumn holidays in the South Tyrol, and raised the question of the need to provide resident Russians the opportunity to learn to be tour guides (now to get a license, she said, is very difficult).
Mr. Hannes Ilmer, a representative of the regional airline “Skyalps,” announced a heightened interest in the opening of direct flights of "Bolzano - Moscow".
Mr. Michael Andergassen of the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce spoke about the Covid-19’s “Green” passport.
Mr. Martin Pihler, the President of the “South Tyrolean Association of Tour Operators”, associated with the "HDS: the Trade-tourism-Service”, explained that the Tyrolean people are big fans of travel and would love to visit Russia, but many are afraid of the formalities, associated with obtaining a visa.
The Vice President of the Center for the Development of Relations between the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and Russia named after N.I. Borodina-in Merano Mr. Theo Dipoli once again stressed the importance of signing an agreement between the MCCI and CCI of Bolzano to activate tourist flows after the end of the pandemic.
In conclusion of the round table, Mr. Vardanyan thanked all of its participants "for the open conversation that highlighted conundrums and solutions" and expressed hope that “tourism, as an industry, based on human interaction, will survive the pandemic and emerge with new spectacular solutions.” Messrs. Dmitry Shtodin and Lukas Pichler also thanked all the participants, interpreters and organizers of the event’s broadcast.
The event resulted in a Declaration, which included a proposal to work on the organization of a large-scale Conference, immediately after the lifting of the restrictive measures.