Foreign tour operators to discuss the future of tourism in Moscow
Over 100 foreign tour operators have been invited to take part in Moscow's international tourism forum and a conference on excursions, culture- and religion-oriented tourism MITCO-2011 which will be held from the 21st to the 23rd of September in the Russian capital. Their representatives will discuss Moscow's future as a tourist destination, find out the latest initiatives by the tourism and accommodation committee and talk about the problems hampering the increase of the tourist flow.
The forum is the initiative of Moscow's tourism and accomodation committee. The Svoy-TT tour operator, which is part of the TUI Travel plc. European tourism holding is its coordinator. According to the head of the Committee Sergey Shpilko, if last spring's MITF travel fair was for tourists, MITCO is strictly for professionals.
''The main goal for the participants is to shape the ways for Moscow to integrate into the global tourism industry, basing on the experience of other large cities, and establish the main directions of the city's rebranding as the largest international tourism center. It's very important to get the support of the global tourism industry's experts and activate the process of forming a modern tourism product out of the capital, which will be aimed both at Russian and foreign tourists'', - Mr. Shpilko said. Widening Moscow's tourism and excursion programs, optimizing the events' calendar, developing the tourism infrastructure, the cooperation between hotels, tour operators, travel agents and museums – all of this will be discussed at the forum.
Mr. Shpilko stresses: not only the city's authorities and Russian tour operators are interested in developing Moscow's tourism industry. International hotel chains and foreign tour operators need tourists aswell. There are currently 12 international hotel chains operating in Moscow, including such well-known brands like InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne, Hyatt, Ritz, Marriot, Lotte, Hilton, Sheraton and more. There are also Russian hotel chains, like Slavyanka, Korsten, Maxima and Kosmopolis. In addition, last year two large international tour operators – TUI and Thomas Cook – entered Russia's inbound tourism market after either fully or partially purchasing Russian recieving companies. MITCO-2011 will gather all sides, interested in creating a modern tourism product in Moscow.
The head of MITCO-2011's board of administrators Sergey Voytovich has announced, 42 foreign tour operators have already confirmed they will take part in the forum. They include: TUI AG, Kras (The Netherlands) and Nouvelle Frontiere (France). Some of Russia's leading tour operators which recieve and send travelers from 83 regions of the country, have also been invited to the forum. Mr. Voytovich added, each company invited has real experience of transporting clients. According to him, the forum may become a neutural platform for tour operators, the heads of hotels and museums to communicate, which currently doesn't exist.
Speaking with journalists, Sergey Voytovich outlined, the visa issue remains among the biggest obsticals in boosting the flow of tourists to Moscow. ''During the summer the situation with giving out visas has in fact worstened. The flow of tourists from our traditional tourist suppliers – Spain and Germany – is dropping. Even though more travelers started coming from Brazil and Argentine, due to the abolishment of visas, and Iran, where getting a visa is quite easy, they still can't provide a large flow of tourists'', - said Mr. Voytovich, adding that foreigners are still only interested in ''vodka, caviar, the circus, Bolshoi, ballet and Kosmos''. Tours to the museum of cosmonautics, planetarium and the space flight control center in Korolyov are very popular.
MITCO participants will be able to get a closer look at Moscow's tourism capacity. A tour of the city and a boat ride on board the Radisson Cruise on the Moskva River are planned for the first day. The second excursion day will be fully dedicated to Kosmos: the guests will visit the space flight control center in Korolyov and will get to have a meal out of the real cosmonauts' menu, visit the space museum, the recently reopened after reenovation planetarium, also the Cold War museum and Moscow's metro. Christ the Savior's Cathedral, The Kremlin, the Donskoi monestry and the Tretyakov gallery are planned for the third day which will be rounded up with a show at the circus and a Russian national cuisine dinner at the Metropol restaurant.
It's planned the forum will be held annually within the framework of the Otdykh autumn exhibition.