The 19th Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) took place at the end of March and was hailed as a great success by exhibitors and visitors from around the world. The exhibition had a 4% increase in visitor attendance compared to 2011 with 82,933 attendees, and over 3,000 exhibiting companies from 197 countries and regions.
MITT welcomed the Dominican Republic as the events official partner country, as part of their participation the Dominican Republic held lively Caribbean dancing, cigar rolling, and rum cocktails as part of Dominican Day during the show. There was also a presentation on the country’s tourism opportunities at the Dominican Republic’s official stand.
Alexandra Streltsova, Deputy Director, Ministry of Tourism Dominican Republic Tourism commented, “It has been a great opportunity to be Partner Country this year. We are very happy to have this great booth with 14 participating companies who are delighted with the number of people they have met. We feel it has been a great success at MITT and we are proud to be here together with our delegation from the Ministry. The Dominican Republic received 120,000 Russian tourists in 2011, compared to 400 in 2004; we have had a huge increase”.
The exhibition was divided into sections for Sea & River Cruises, Medical Tourism, IT in Tourism, and Hotels and Accommodation. Asia, Africa and Latin America, along with Australia, Oceania and various island nations, were as represented. New exhibitors this year included Jamaica, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Singapore Airport, the Peloponnese region, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Brescia Tourism, Palau, and Guam.
Several other countries also made an impact at MITT 2012:
- A record 18 Japanese companies displayed the beauty of their country from their stands, presenting destinations for all seasons: Okinawa for the summer, events such as the Japanese Grand Prix and the Tokyo Motor Show for the autumn, and winter skiing holidays in Hakuba, Naeba, and Niseko.
- The official airline was Lufthansa German Airlines, this year celebrating 40 years of operating flights to Russia.
- A combined French national stand was presented by companies such as the luxury department store chain Galeries Lafayette
- Turkey once again showcased its much-admired destinations at MITT 2012, the country was the sponsor of MITT 2012 visitor registration, and a delegation from the Ankara Chamber of Commerce was amongst those who took part.
Patricia Samuels, Tourism and Culture, Embassy of Jamaica, commented, “This is our first time as an exhibitor. We are making an effort to grow tourism from Russia by attending. We are here to meet tour operators; we have met most of them and had constant visitors to our stand. We are planning to return next year.”
Sasa Radovic, Managing Director, National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, said “The Russian market has been one of three most important markets for us. The growth of this market means that for next few years, Russia will be the most important”.
MITT also featured an extensive business programme:
- The Moscow Tourism Business Summit, which put key industry challenges up for discussion and to enabled experience and opinions to be shared among leading domestic and international companies.
- The 3rd Moscow Medical & Health Tourism Congress ran from 22 to 23 March, with this year’s themes being “Russia, CIS countries and Eastern Europe in the global medical tourism industry. The Russian-language market and co-operation with global service providers. Establishing wide sales networks and further expansion of international businesses in Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe”. Russian and international sector professionals, medical associations, representatives from Government bodies, and insurance specialists all took part in the Congress, representing 30 countries from all over the world.
- Seminars, consultations, and company presentations
- Press conferences were held, featuring:
- Michael McFaul, US Ambassador to Russia
- Luis de la Pena, Spanish Ambassador to Russia
- Isabel Maria Borrero Cortez, Spanish General Secretary for Tourism
- Stas Misezhnikov, Israeli Minister for Tourism
- Official tourism representatives from the Maldives
The business programme allowed visitors, exhibitors, and journalists to get first-hand information on key development challenges for tourist destinations, cooperation with major tour operators, visa issues, and much more.
The main topic at MITT 2012 was sea cruises, one of the most actively growing sectors of the tourism industry. In light of this, the 1st International Conference on Sea Cruises took place during the exhibition. Senior managers of leading international cruise operators, heads of tourism bodies, port authorities, and media representatives all participated, alongside international cruise companies presenting their new routes and talking about the features on board. The general partner of the topic and of the conference was Atlantis Line Sea Cruises, and the conference partners and sponsors were the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg and PAC Group.
Maria Badakh, Head of Sales, ITE Group plc commented “MITT is the only international platform for destinations to promote themselves to the growing and lucrative Russian outbound travel market. Over 4 days exhibitors had the opportunity to demonstrate why Russian tourists should visit their destination and what they can offer. We look forward to the 2013 edition which takes place on 20-23 March 2013.”
For more information please visit the website: www.mitt.ru
