St. Petersburg travel agents’ season 2012 forecasts
According to St. Petersburg administration, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first half of this year rose to 1.15 million, which is 12% more year-on-year. However, most St. Petersburg FIT and group travel companies predict next season with caution. The inquiry, conducted by RUTI north-west branch proved it. It’s too early to talk about any specific plans now even though there are some bookings for summer 2012. Neither have the travel agents any great expectations for the upcoming autumn and winter season.
MICE tourism is a completely different thing. The market players are optimistic in their vision of the future. St. Petersburg hotels make themselves feel quite stable, especially those focused on event tourism this season. Surely, hotels are always looking forward to major Russian and international forums, held in St. Petersburg and of course, they are pleased with the progress in the business and festive events in the Northern capital’s numerous outskirts.
Cruise holidays are also considered to be on the rise. The reasonable utilization of the “Marine facade” sea port contributes to it a lot. According to the poll, cruises sector will continue to grow next summer.
Inbound tourism agents think that St. Petersburg has much to offer to foreign guests, but the risk still remains, especially taking into account the increasing competition on the global tourism market. Rather high costs of travel services and insufficient promotional activities of the city on the international market are major issues – the tour operators admitted. Visa and immigration formalities and transport infrastructure of St. Petersburg are in the third and fourth places respectively. Economic and political instability in the world, security threats and the level of service conclude the list.
In addition, the pollees believe that the city still lacks spectacular events, new exciting programs and more. Indeed, not many companies put this feature on the first place.
As the poll implied, extending of the events program can help redistributing the tourist flow and making it more even throughout the year. For example, it’s possible to develop winter brands – Christmas, New Year and Shrovetide in St. Petersburg, weddings or holidays in the northern capital, etc. The intensive work in cooperation with other regions can lead to increase in the number of domestic tourists. St. Petersburg travel agents also feel the necessity of promotion the city in new markets, including the southern hemisphere and Latin America.