On September 7th, an online conference titled "Export of tourist services: a view from both sides" took place.
"For Russia, tourism is a kind of business, a vector of orientation, which may become a national program in the broadest sense of the word, because such a number of attractions, existing artefacts, nature’s preserves and special places, colossal and stunning in their magnitude - are what many countries do not have...
We will raise many issues pertaining to the tourism industry, which are gaining momentum and becoming one of the most interesting aspects of our lives. Today, we will talk about the projects that exist in the tourism industry, the nuances, novelties that are still being introduced and reinvented. We will touch upon several types of tourism - events, medical, recreational, environmental, industrial and the pecifics of tourism in Moscow," - said Mr. Suren Vardanyan, the MCCI’s Vice President, opening the conference.
"The task of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is to improve the legislation, law-enforcement practices, to train personnel for the task of promoting and servicing the industry of tourism", said Mr. Sergey Selivanov, the Director of the Department of Exhibitions, Fairs and Congresses’ Activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. In recent years, in Russia, there have been notable successes in the development of MICE-industry (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), thanks to the initiatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the staging of congresses and exhibition activities in the regions of Russia. The year 2019 was a new stage in the development of business tourism, as this segment was introduced into the priorities of the tourism strategy until 2035 in the country.
“Currently, the project "Tourism and National Hospitality Industry" is being actively promoted, where a significant role is assigned to events and business travel. We have already submitted two compilations of proposals for that same purpose. Due to this new strategy and, possibly, financing, it will be possible to improve material and technical base in the regions".
Mr. Selivanov talked about the practice of expanding the profile potential of Russian regions throughout the world, including international exhibitions of the “Expocentre” and economic missions of regional presentations. He specified the indigenous CCIs actively promoting event tourism - Moscow, Perm, Urals, Samara, Voronezh, Krasnodar, Ryazan, Tomsk, Kuzbass and others.
At the same time, said Mr. Selivanov, the progress in this area is hampered by the the lack of adequacy in the social infrastructure. In conclusion, he listed the components that will lead to the development of territories and will help to strengthen the position of our country in the international market.
The General Director of ANO "Moscow Export Center”, Mr. Alexey Kalachyov, provided the following figures: the share of the national leader - Moscow - 26%, St. Petersburg - 9% in extenging of tourist services for the 1st quarter of 2020. Now the industry is experiencing difficulties, aggravated by the pandemic.
In January-March of this year, compared to the same period last year, the capital’s provision of travel services decreased by 25% and fell to $448 million. Mr. Kalachyov spoke about measures of anti-crisis support from the “Moscow Export Center”, in particular, about the project "Made in Moscow", acceleration programs, assistance in introducing many business missions to an online format, the “School of Exporter”, etc.
The Chairman of the Board of the Russian Tourist Union in Germany, Mr. Gernod Looze, CEO of the Austrian consulting company, the “Bruck Consult”, Mr. Paul Brooke, and the Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in Germany, Mr. Andrey Sobolev, also spoke about event tourism.
The President of the Russian Medical Tourism Association, Mr. Igor Platonov, who spoke at the session about medical tourism, noted that the export of medical services around the world, including Russia, is on the rise, and explained what needs to be done to enhance this branch of travel in the international market, and invited those, wishing to participate, to become a part of it.
Mr. Oleg Rukodainy, the Chairman of the MCCI Committee on Healthcare and Medical Industry, Deputy Director of the Sechenov Clinical Center, spoke about the development of this area in Russia and highlighted the problems that need to be solved.
With the development of medical tourism in their countries and the experience that can be adopted, the audience was lectured by the Director of the Israeli company “Euromed”, Mr. Felix Waldman, Chairman of the Committee for Eastern Europe of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, Mr Mirko Novak, and the CEO of “LUNOmed”, Ms. Lubov Moch.
Ms. Eugenia Babakayeva, the Director of the Machine Tool Museum in Tula, Mr. Mikhail Makarov, the Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in France, and Ms. Irina Jayani, the Head of “ProGress Management” (Austria), spoke about the peculiarities and problems of modern industrial travel.
According to Mr. Mikhail Makarov, the Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in France, over 15 million tourists visited industrial (mainly food) enterprises in France last year. In Russia, enterprises are reluctant to open the doors of their shops to those, who are curious, which is regrettable. According to statistics, 60% of tourists who have visited one or another enterprise, become active consumers of its products.
The General Director of "Muzenidis Travel”, Mr. Alexander Tsandekidi, spoke about how, in his opinion, Russian regions should improve their tourism policy.
The Chairman of the MCCI Commission on Foreign Economic Cooperation with partners in China, Ms. Anna Besmertnaya, delineated the problems of Chinese tourists in the Russian Federation and shared that China promotes tourist routes for different regions, but among them there is not a single Russian one. The Executive director of the “GlobeDreamers” (France), Mr. Anton Cherednichenko, talked about the foundations of responsible tourism, which is now widely developed in the world and highlighted how, in his opinion, this direction could be developed by the Russian regions.
The Russian Trade Representative in Spain, Ms. Galina Kurochkina, introduced the audience to the peculiarities of recreational tourism development in this country, emphasizing that the trade mission is ready to assist Russian companies in participating in international tourism exhibitions.
The expert in biology, ecology, nature management and environmental education, Ms. Veronika Tarbayeva,( Doctor of Biological Sciences, Academician of the Russian Ecological Academy and various other exemplary achievements), spoke about the stages of development of environmental tourism in Russia, focusing on the main ways of development this direction. Ms. Ekaterina Firsanova, the Head of “Russia’Discovery”, focused on the incoming travel to Russia, and Ms. Katerina Demeotis, representative of the Russian Union of “Tourist Industry Enterprises” in France, devoted her report to the same subject.
The Conference was concluded with the speech of Ms. Inna Pehova, theDeputy Chairman of the Committee for Tourism and Hotel Business of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She described the development of urban travel in Moscow, shared interesting experiences in the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Turkey and Taiwan. The suspension in the hospitality of receiving foreign guests, due to the Covid 19 crisis, should be used as an opportunity to prepare a program for participation in coronovirus international exhibitions for the tourism industry, she said.
It is important to create a single platform, where the national approach, dealing the concept of “tourism", would be discussed, Mr. Vardanyan said in conclusion of the event. “The MCCI will continue the discussion on distinct segments of the tourism industry and create a specific and autonomous program”.