The Cruise Festival is an annual professional event dedicated to all aspects of the cruise market, with the mission of promoting cruise travel as a promising area for the development of outbound, domestic, and inbound tourism.
The festival is traditionally held on the eve of the high season in two cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In 2019 the festival will take place:
- February 20, 2019, St. Petersburg, Emerald Hotel
- February 27, 2019, Moscow, Marriott Novy Arbat Hotel.
The B2B festival annually brings together leading cruise operators and agents, as well as numerous guests—representatives of travel companies, MICE agencies, and corporate clients.
Although cruise vacations are not yet as popular in Russia as they are abroad, industry professionals understand their advantages over other types of vacations: stability, increased comfort, and safety.
The event is organized by the media holding "Turbusiness" and is held with the support of the Federal Agency for Tourism, with the cruise company Costa Cruises as its partner.
The Cruise Festival will feature a press conference, a workshop for specialists, master classes and presentations by cruise tour operators, and panel discussions.
A unique festive atmosphere will pleasantly complement the business program: quests, entertainment, and a traditional lottery with prizes from our participants are planned.
Network and independent agencies, FIT and MICE companies, and corporate clients are invited to attend the event.
The first professional event, the "Cruise Festival," successfully launched in April 2016 and became a breakthrough for Moscow's tourism industry. Leading operators, cruise industry specialists, and industry professionals, as well as representatives of travel agencies and specialized companies, gathered in the halls of the Marriott Novy Arbat.
In 2017, the event was successfully held in two cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg. Over 500 festival guests had the opportunity to engage in workshops with cruise line representatives and learn about the specifics of this type of tourism, the specifics of selling various cruise types, and attend master classes and presentations.
This year, the third festival brought together representatives from 26 leading cruise companies specializing in river, lake, and sea cruises; cruises around Russia, including the White Sea and Lake Baikal; ocean and ferry cruises; cruises on liners and yachts; cruises around Europe; and even expedition cruises with itineraries in the Arctic and Antarctica.
"Undoubtedly, such an event is important, as cruises have established a strong position among tourist destinations. And the festival provides an excellent opportunity for agencies to meet with most cruise operators at once," says Ekaterina Ilyushina, a representative of Costa Cruises.
"The festival gave us the opportunity to connect with agents who were genuinely interested in our product. Extensive advertising of the event in the specialized press helped popularize the destination among travel professionals," says Elena Karmanova, Marketing and PR Director at Via Maris.
The official website of the festival is www.festival-cruise.ru
Source: trn-news.ru