MITT, the 17th Moscow International Travel & Tourism exhibition, is Russia’s number one exhibition for the travel industry and one of the top five travel exhibitions in the world. It comes just as some experts in the Russian tourism industry report predicted growth of 10-12% in 2010, as Russia’s economy begins to recover from the crisis and air travel costs remain low.
MITT caters for the trade and consumer travel market, with the first two days of the exhibition open exclusively to trade visitors.
Many destinations are demonstrating the importance of the Russian market to their tourism industry by significantly increasing the size of their stands. These include China, Israel, Japan, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Tunisia and South Africa. Dubai, MITT’s partner destination in 2009, continues to have a major presence at the exhibition, with a stand of 350 m². Also, Kenya makes a welcome return to the exhibition this year following huge demand from tour operators in the region.
Quote from Event Director, Maria Badakh, “Despite the crisis, Russians have not stopped travelling and interest in attracting larger numbers of these lucrative travellers has not diminished. MITT has a very high proportion of regular exhibitors, but this year, we are pleased to introduce a number of new companies, such as Riu Hotels & Resorts, and destinations, including Netherlands, Albania and Réunion. This year’s partner country, Greece, is organising a number of events that are bound to inspire our visitors.”
Official sponsors of MITT 2010 are: Atlantisline, Pegas Touristik, Pac Group, Gartour and Danko.
MITT’s official partners are: UNWTO, PATA, ITTFA, CECTA, ATA, World Travel Awards and Skyteam.
Greece – this year’s Partner Destination
Greece is a long-standing exhibitor at MITT, and its Tourist Development Minister, attended the event in 2009. According to the Greek National Tourism Organisation, “The partnership will complement Greece’s promotional activities in one of its key priority outbound markets. Russia contributes almost 260,000 tourists to Greece every year and continues to produce healthy growth figures. Statistics demonstrate that Russian tourists prefer luxury accommodation, especially during the summer season, and that they also travel to Greece on business.” Approximately 75 Greek companies will be represented at the show, on a stand of 1,600 m².
Dominican Republic Day
The second day of the exhibition will be dedicated to the Dominican Republic, celebrating the opening of a new office in Moscow. The group has a stand of 208 m². According to Galina Lysenko, the Dominican Republic’s representative in Russia, “Whilst there is a serious decline of tourists from France, Germany, Spain and Italy, statistics show an increase of 25.2% (49,752 people) in the number of Russian tourists visiting the Dominican Republic. From 27 December 2009 to 12 January 2010, approximately 4,800 Russians travelled to the country on direct flights alone. In total, over 7,000 Russian tourists holidayed in the Dominican Republic during this period.”
MITT’s Wild Card – Vancouver Tourism
This year, the ‘Wild Card’ was won by Vancouver Tourism – this will be the first time that Canada has participated in the exhibition. MITT will form part of Vancouver Tourism’s wide promotional campaign inspired by its hosting of the Olympics in February. According to Kevan Ridgeway, President of the Vancouver Coast and Mountains Tourism Board, “The passing of the Winter Olympics torch from Canada to Russia this year will highlight a unique and exciting opportunity; a chance to introduce the virtually unlimited tourism opportunities of Western Canada to Russian travel industry professionals.”
New Medical Tourism Exhibition & Congress – Pavilion 2, Hall 3
Following increased levels of interest in medical tourism amongst Russian travellers, MITT is launching its first Medical Tourism Exhibition and Congress. Participants include medical suppliers, tour operators and travel agents, clinic representative and practising doctors, national tourism offices, Russian regional tourism administrations, health resorts and spas, insurance companies, hoteliers, airlines, consultants and marketing offices. The Congress will include the following topics:
- Medical and health tourism as a profitable business
- The effect of the economic crisis on medical and health tourism
- Increasing the profitability of tourism companies through medical and health tourism
- Foreign medical tours
- Medical tourism in Russia
- The role of the travel agent in medical tourism
- Increasing the competitiveness of companies – new ways of attracting clients
- Insurance and supplementary services
Technology Conference – Pavilion 1
The technology conference will feature technology for the travel and tourism industry, including new solutions for online bookings and marketing.
New registration system
This year, visitors will have direct access to the exhibition from the metro.
Information and quotes from this year’s exhibitors:
American Best Getaways Inc. has participated in MITT since 2006. The company has over 16 years working with the Russian market, offering tours to USA and Canada, FIT groups, incentive programmes, VIP travel and budget group tours to California and national parks. According to Natalie Azarov, President of American Best Getaways Inc., “The Russian market is very important to us and we are working every day to develop relationships with new companies.”
Gray Line Peru has been participating in MITT since 2005. This year, the company will be offering new price and tour packages for this year, as well as fixed departures for the Russian-speaking market, new trekking opportunities in the Andes and a number of hotels that opened in Peru during 2009.
According to Alena Bokhan, Sales Director of Gray Line Peru, “It is important for us to maintain our annual presence at this event so that our present and potential partners see us as a key player on the Peruvian incoming tourist market. The Russian market is one of the fastest growing and has a great potential. Russians are known to be big spenders.”
Chrismar Hotels is participating in MITT for the first time this year following a recommendation. According to Nicholas Findlay, representative of Chrismar Hotels, “We already have a regular flow of Russian tourists, so we are looking to strengthen our relations with Russian tour operators. This next year is very exciting for Southern African countries, as the World Cup is being held in South Africa, so we expect an increase in the number of tourists visiting this region.”
Turisme de Catalunya has participated in MITT since 1995, following the opening of their Moscow office in 1993. This year, twelve tourism products will be promoted on Catalonia’s stand: accessible, active, cultural, sports, gastronomy, golf, beach/family, nature, nautical, business, winter sports, rural, health and urban. They will also be announcing the opening of a new airport in Lleida. According to Kristina Ionitskaia, Deputy Director of the organisation, “The Russian market is growing and the prospects are good whilst there are solutions to visa barriers for the outgoing tourism.”
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has participated in MITT every year since 1995. This year, The Tourism Authority of Thailand will be celebrating its 50th anniversary by organising a series of events and festivals on their stand. They will also be highlighting a number of new leisure destinations: Ko Chang, North-Eastern Thailand, beaches of Rayong and Phang-Nga provinces, and special programmes for medical tourism, including spas and sports (golf, yachting, trekking, cycling, etc). According to Gennady Tomilin, Marketing Officer in the Moscow Office, “MITT is Russia’s number 1 travel exhibition. Participation in MITT complies with TAT’s strategic plan on maintaining the leisure market […]. Thailand has become the most popular tourist destination for Russian tourists in South East Asia with more than 300,000 Russian visitors per year. We hope that during the next three years the number of Russians visiting Thailand will increase to half a million.”
Switzerland Tourism has been participating in MITT since 1996. According to Jonas Ettlin, Managing Director for the Russian Federation of Switzerland Tourism, “At first, it was a very useful platform. It was good to know what is going on in the market, to find new contacts, to be present as a destination and to introduce Swiss partners to the Russian ones. Nowadays it’s an image event. Russia is in the top 10 countries for overnights in Switzerland. Russians spent quite a lot of money on holiday and stay in the best hotels.” The Swiss stand will feature 11 Swiss and Russian tour operators, 5 hotel chains and hotels, 8 destinations and 1 institute. This year, they will be presenting summer holidays, such as hiking, swimming in lakes, biking, inline skating, etc.
The Lithuanian State Department of Tourism will be taking part alongside the Lithuanian Tourist Information Centre for the 7th time this year. They will be presenting wellness and spa tourism in four resorts, Palanga, Neringa, Druskininkai and Birštonas. Lithuania is currently preparing to host the European Basketball Championship in 2011. According to Ieva Lukšėnaitė, Senior Specialist of the Marketing Division, “Russia is one of the main priority markets for Lithuania and MITT is one of the biggest International travel fairs in Europe. We expect growth in the number of tourists from Russia.”
Universal Marketing will be promoting Italian tourism for the Calabria region for the second time at MITT. According to Monica Tomei, a company representative, “We had positive results from the last edition and we hope that the Russian market will have a good potential for our country, developing even further in the future.”
The Russian Service Bureau, Moscow will be participating for the fourth time this year. The Bureau will be presenting its 2010/2011 tariffs, packages to USA and new incentive programmes. They will also be promoting the launch of their new website. According to Kristina Mikhalieva, “We expect to see a general increase in this market travelling to the US. We feel we are in a strong position with regard to serving Russian clients, as one of the oldest and more experienced receptive tour operators, specialising in this market for 18 years. Our strongest point is the luxury segment and we were the first to offer this. At the same time, we are in a strong position with regard to group travel to USA. Since 1996, we have been successfully promoting group packages with regular monthly departures to major US cities. From 2005 to 2009, the amount of passengers travelling on those services went up by 75%. Within the last two years, we have also seen a 47% increase in MICE groups.”
Le Méridien Ra Beach Hotel & Spa has exhibited twice at MITT. According to Anna Llorens, Marketing & Communications Manager at the hotel, “MITT is one more showcase that we go to and the Russian market is very interesting for us.”
Bayern-Osteuropa OHG offers diagnostics and treatment in clinics throughout Germany and Europe. They are exhibiting at MITT for the first time and aim to acquire more clients in Russia. According to Tatjana Rotar, “We are interested in expanding our service in all Russian-speaking countries and consider MITT to be a good opportunity to present our offer to all potential clients. We are working with a large number of clinics, suggesting new methods of diagnostics and medical treatment in oncology, surgery, rehabilitation, etc. Many of them will be represented at the exhibition and in our catalogue.”
Barceló Royal Beach is participating in MITT for the first time. According to Vlado Indzhov, “Russia is a significant market for Barceló Royal Beach. We will be presenting our hotel services.”
Roza Vetrov LLC has exhibited at MITT for over ten years. The company will be presenting all its destinations, including domestic tourism (Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) and foreign tourism (Italy, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Israel, Czech Republic, Greece, USA, Australia/New Zealand, Latin America and Africa), as well as bus tours, driving tours, yachts, motor tours and the World Cup 2010. According to Anna Filenko, Chief of the FIT Department, “MITT is the most popular and most useful tourism exhibition in Moscow, and it is the oldest. Most agencies from all regions of Russia come to MITT. The Russian market is always developing in spite of the difficult economic situation in the world.”
Yatra Exotic Routes has been exhibiting at MITT for the past two years. This year, the company will be focussing on promoting beach holidays, cultural tours, spa and wellness tourism and Ayurveda centric tours. According to Manan Mahajan, Assistant Vice President of the company, MITT “gives us an opportunity to make new business associations with a market that has always been very important to India. The Russian market continues to show a huge potential. The level of business has been fairly good in spite of the recession period and we see it growing over the next few years. Our position remains firm, with business increasing especially after our continued sales initiatives in 2009 & 2010. Business looks extremely positive.”
Macau Tourism is exhibiting for the second time. According to Teresa Melo Mercelino, “We exhibit at this fair because Russia is an emerging market for Asia. The fact that Russian visitors do not need a visa to enter Hong Kong and that Macau is just 60km away makes it easy to combine both regions as a destination package. At this stage, we’re just tapping the market and our participation at this fair helps us to analyse visitors’ interest in our tourist product and find out more about the needs of the Russian market.”
Travco LLP has exhibited at MITT for six years. According to Beau Manby, Regional Sales Manager for Travco LLP, “We feel MITT is still the best show in Russia offering the best value for money and the most opportunities. We find the market stable, our position well founded and the future exciting!”
Abatera Group is another new exhibitor at MITT. They are a destination management company, offering tailor-made packages, including shopping trips, desert safaris, hot air ballooning, spa and beach holidays. A large percentage of their business comes from Russia. According to Terry Dehdashty, the Group’s Marketing Manager, “The Russian market is vital to our business strategy. With the economic crises behind us and the efforts of the Dubai government and the tourism department, we are confident that the number of tourists coming to Dubai over the next few years will substantially increase, thus allowing Abatera Tourism to increase its share of business. We are increasing our market share in the CIS countries as well as in India and Germany.”
Luxury Weddings & Travels Consultant is participating for the second time in MITT, promoting new launches for the summer collection, including new luxury villas in Sardinia, Forte dei Marmi and lake Como, and new concierge services. According to Loredana Pettinati, Business Development Director, “We decided to participate in MITT as we know that it is the most important exhibition in Russia for the travel market. We think that [the Russian market] is going to be increasingly important for our business, both for villa rental and special events and weddings.”
The Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism has participated in MITT alongside Ethiopian tour operators since 2008. This year, they will have a larger stand than previously and will be holding a seminar for Russian tour operators and agencies. There will also be an Ethiopian coffee ceremony during the exhibition. They hope that their participation in MITT, combined with the establishment of a new Ethiopian Tour Club, will increase the number of Russian tourists to Ethiopia. According to Amha Hailegeorgis, Third Secretary of the Ethiopian Embassy, “We have discovered that it is ended the best exhibition to promote our tourism destinations in the Russian Federation. Our tour operators are able to meet their counterparts in the exhibition and sign contracts. In 2008, only 6 tour operators participated. In 2009, there were 7 and now we expect even more tour operators from Ethiopia.”
ENIT (the Italian State Tourist Board) has been a permanent exhibitor at MITT since 1997. The organisation is keen to promote Italy’s image and its overall tourism product. According to Elena Gabdulvalieva, “There is a growing interest towards Italy as a country of art, culture, gastronomic traditions, music, fashion and of all-year-round tourism. It is an attractive destination not only for tourists but also for people interested in deepening their knowledge on many aspects of human life. We believe that the Russian travel market will stabilise in 2010 and will be fully revived in 2011 after the negative effects of the global financial crisis.”
