On October 11-12, the large-scale travel forum St. Petersburg Travel HUB was held for the first time in St. Petersburg in partnership with the 26th international tourism exhibition INWETEX – CIS TRAVEL MARKET 2018. The event, organized by the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee, proved effective. a platform for dialogue and collaboration between government officials, tourism and hotel industry practitioners, and international and Russian industry experts.
The St. Petersburg Travel HUB travel forum and the INWETEX – CIS TRAVEL MARKET 2018 exhibition were held for the first time at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities for both exhibitions and conventions. Over the two days, over 3,000 industry specialists and business professionals attended the business events and exhibitor booths.
The opening ceremony of INWETEX – CIS TRAVEL MARKET 2018 was attended by Acting Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Expert Council on Tourism under the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Igor Fomin, Deputy Head of the Federal Tourism Agency of the Russian Federation Sergey Korneev, and Consul General of Greece Panagiotis Beglitis. This year, more than 200 companies and organizations from 24 regions of Russia and 14 countries presented their business opportunities and new proposals at the exhibition.
The St. Petersburg Travel HUB forum's packed business program opened with a plenary session titled "Tourism. Development Trends, Realities, and Experience. Focus on St. Petersburg," moderated by renowned journalist and documentary filmmaker Nika Strizhak. Yevgeny Pankevich, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee, discussed priorities and strategic plans for tourism development in the Northern Capital. Igor Fomin and Sergey Korneyev presented the positions of the legislative and executive branches of government on current tourism issues.
Visit Russia office directors Prashant Chaudhary and Harmik Singh shared their vision of St. Petersburg as a tourist destination attractive to tourists from India and the Middle East. PKF TourismExperts CEO Christopher Hinteregger discussed how tourist destinations can thrive in the era of total digital transformation. Dmitry Shneider, head of the ANO "Russia-2018," shared his experience organizing and hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which paved the way for even more successful sporting events attracting tourists in our country. Pavel Rodkin, Associate Professor of the Department of Integrated Communications at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and an expert in destination branding, discussed the case of the World Cup as an element of national branding.
Many topics discussed during the plenary session were further developed in subsequent St. Petersburg Travel HUB events—discussions, panels, and roundtables. The transformation of the hospitality industry and the need to invest in quality were discussed at the St. Petersburg Hotel Forum. As expected, the roundtable discussion "Chinese Tourist Flow as a Challenge and Expert for Domestic Hospitality and Tourism" generated strong audience interest. A related masterclass, "The Specifics of Hosting Indian, Israeli, Middle Eastern, and Chinese Tourists," was productive. Priority areas for domestic inbound tourism for St. Petersburg were also addressed: at the conference "Children's Tourism in Russia 2018: Concerns and Hopes," industry practitioners and representatives of regulatory bodies discussed new self-regulation initiatives and the image of organized children's travel.
On the second day of the exhibition and travel forum, the "Digital in Tourism" conference generated considerable interest among participants. It focused on industry best practices in SMM, business automation, and even the potential for blockchain technology. This topic was addressed, in particular, by Artem Koltsov, head of the Expert Council on Digital Economy and Blockchain Technologies under the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development, and Entrepreneurship.
Professionals from various regions of Russia discussed in detail their experience of collaborating on the preparation of World Cup events at a specialized roundtable. Participants described the conference on medical tourism and the diversity of tourism in St. Petersburg as productive and engaging.
The decision to hold the INWETEX – CIS TRAVEL MARKET international tourism exhibition and the St. Petersburg Travel HUB travel forum simultaneously at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre was a complete success, notes Lyudmila Ivanova, CEO of the exhibition organizer, St. Petersburg Express: "Thanks to the support of the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee, both events created a powerful synergy and allowed tourism and hospitality professionals to maximize the benefits of interacting with exhibitors and engaging in discussions with colleagues during the business program over two days."
Source: trn-news.ru