BUSINESS PROGRAMM PRESS RELEASE
There are only a few days left until the opening of OTDYKH International Forum for Tourism — the major event of the Russian tourism industry. The exhibition will be held on
More than 30 regions of Russia are ready present their projects and tourist opportunities to the Forum’s guests. 800 companies from 49 countries will demonstrate their unique proposals, showing their interest in expanding partnership in Russia. Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa will be presented in Hall 1, companies from Europe, CIS countries and Russian operators occupy Hall 2. Russian regions have increased the exhibition area in 3.5 times compared to 2017, and will be located in Hall 3. The official sponsor of OTDYKH International Forum is the Dominican Republic. The Partners are “ART TOUR” and “Natalie Tours”.
The exhibition has several thematic expositions. OTDYKH MICE exhibition is dedicated to business travel and meting industry and brings together event agencies, travel agencies and corporate clients.
OTDYKH Medical Tourism, Spa & Health is aimed to demonstrate the opportunities of health resorts, clinics and spa centres from Russia and abroad.
The opening day of OTDYKH has been declared the Day of the United Arab Emirates, which will be held under the aegis of “Natalie Tours” tour operator. The key event will be the conference “UAE: a million tourists from Russia is now a reality”.
A major innovation of the Forum is the introduction of the extensive business programme architecture that unites industry’s key business events. Government authorities and travel industry representatives will take an active part in identifying, analysing and revealing the main problems and trends that influence the inbound and domestic tourism development in Russia.
The Plenary meeting “Open dialogue of tourism industry top managers. Tourism development: the future agenda” held in the open discussion format will open the first Forum’s day on 19 September. Among the discussion participants there are V.V. Ryazansky, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, M.V. Degtyarev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism and Youth Affairs, A.Y. Manilova Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, O.P. Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism, and other executive authority representatives. 64 subjects of the Russian Federation will take part in the meeting, attracting over 400 delegates. The outcome of the meeting would be the issuing of a unified document basing on resolutions adopted during the work in specific groups, which will become a roadmap with a list of measures for promoting domestic and inbound tourism in Russia in 2018.
The industry top managers and governmental officials will take part in the official events of the Forum, including Opening Ceremony of Russia Greece Cross-Tourism Year with the participation of A.Y. Manilova, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation and Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism of Greece, signing an agreement on the tourist product formation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup between the Federal Agency for Tourism and NTK “Intourist” company. O.P. Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism will take part in the business breakfast with the Sochi City Administration and business leaders dedicated to the summer season results discussion and the cruise line launching. The Ambassador of India and O.P. Safonov will announce the results of the RussiaIndiaTravel contest at the national stand of India.
A.Y. Manilova will take part in the presentation of the new brand “Imperator’s route” project, created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
The “Hotel business today and tomorrow” discussion panel will highlight the topical issues of hospitality sector. The discussion’s moderators are Vadim Prasov, Vice President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, and Sergey Gudz, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Hotel Security.
The “Meeting Industry in Russia” Conference will traditionally be held in interactive format, including the discussion, practical training on team building organizing, and diverse master classes.
One of the key events of the second Forum’s day is the Economic session, highlighting the issues of state and private support in tourism. Representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Tourism, the Ministry of Economic Development and the subjects of the Russian Federation will take part in the discussion.
The results of the summer season and prospects for the next year will be discussed at the “Tourism in Summer 2017” roundtable open discussion.
A series of workshops will be dedicated to the tourism sectors which have great potential and require the active promotion: scientific, educational, rural, industrial and children’s tourism.
The activities in the formation and promotion of territory image helps to attract additional material resources and at the same time to ensure a systematic and continuous growth of the positive reputation of the country. Supporting this strategy, the Contest of presentation materials and information videos of Russian regions “Hello Russia, My Homeland!” will be held in several nominations within the Forum, announcing the winners on 20 September at the exhibition.
The sessions “Russia’s tourism potential and national branding” and “Territory marketing as a way of the Russian regions and cities tourism potential promotion” will be dedicated to the measures to promote domestic and inbound tourism in Russia. “Silver necklace of Russia” and “Patterns of the Russian cities” presentations will take place for all professionals interested in the tours development in Russia.
The experts will discuss the prospects and challenges in the interaction between tour operators and cultural sites at the annual round table “Museums and travel business: pathways to understanding”.
OTDYKH Medical Tourism, Spa & Health Conference has become a highly professional expert platform for dialogue and the unique experiences exchange among the health tourism sector specialists.
21 September is the final day of the Forum’s business programme. This day is aimed to the discussion of the future of the tourism industry: children’s tourism development in Russia and young specialists training within the “You are our future” scientific and practical conference.
Problems and trends of modern technology market have traditionally become one of the central discussion topics. This year, the analytics of e-commerce in tourism, the latest tools for promotion of tourism products, the specifics of implementing special online projects will be discussed at the “Information Technologies in Tourism” Conference.
The Culinary Tourism Academy will be organized within OTDYKH International Exhibition in order to promote territories through creating culinary brands and informing the general public about the area’s gastronomic opportunities.
The Academy’s business programme is aimed to consolidate the market players: tour operators, restaurateurs, wineries and agricultural holdings, and to discuss the potential and difficulties in creating new routes at the 2nd International Food & Wine Tourism Conference “Tasteful Journey”, which will be held on 19 September. One of the most important items on the agenda of the open discussion is the practical issues of food and wine tours organization on the example of successful “Culinary Map of Russia” project. The Conference moderator is Leonid Gelibterman, president of the International Enogastronomy Centre, member of the UWNTO Expert Council for Culinary Tourism.
The visitors will have a closer look at Russia’s food & wine opportunities during cooking master classes using local products, which contribute to a more complete immersion in the specifics of the local cuisine and the region as a whole.
Business programme events architecture
