Business tourism is one of the most promising sectors for the city of Moscow, Russian capital. In 2023, the Russian capital was visited by 3.7 million business tourists - 7% more than in 2022. And India remains one of the leaders among visitors from non-CIS countries in terms of the number of business travelers.
In 2023, 60,000 Indians visited Moscow - a quarter more than a year earlier.
The Moscow City Tourism Committee recognized the market demands and organized the Shaping MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) Future Conference for representatives of the Indian MICE industry, to introduce them to the tourism strengths of the Russian capital.
The event took place on April 19 in Delhi and brought together over 100 participants from MICE agencies of both countries, corporate customers, representatives of the travel industry in Moscow, Aeroflot and the Indian branches of Sberbank.
"The Russian capital as a center of business tourism and corporate events is already an established and a strong brand in the international arena," said Anastasia Popova, Deputy General Director for International and Industry Cooperation of Project Office for the Development of Tourism and Hospitality in Moscow.
"Now our task is to demonstrate to our Indian partners all the possibilities of organizing high value MICE events in Moscow in combination with already proven tourist programs".
During the panel discussion participants assessed the current status and interaction peculiarities with the MICE market in India, and developed recommendations for the MICE industry in Moscow during the general brainstorming session. Representatives of the Indian MICE industry participated in B2B negotiations to find new cross-partners in the Moscow business environment and among representatives of the hospitality industry.
Representatives of the MICE industry took part in the event from Moscow.
"In 2024, we witnessed a significant surge (more than quadruple) in the demand for transfers by Russians visiting India, both for business and leisure purposes. Muscovites are leading the trend, with 80% of transfer bookings originating from the capital since the beginning of the year. Additionally, we observe a growing interest from Indian tourism agencies in exploring Russia, resulting in a substantial increase in our collaboration," commented Dmitriy Saraykin, co-founder of Global Transfer Provider i’way.
The conference also assessed the solutions to foreign demand for non-standard venues and elements in MICE programs, such as museums, parks, theaters and others. Holding MICE events at offbeat locations, such as the State Historical Museum, the Moscow Planetarium and Khudozhestvenny Cinema, is becoming popular.
One of the significant initiatives launched to support the growth of the tourist flow is the Moscow MICE Ambassadors Program – an online certification program for representatives of the Indian market, which aims to create demand for Moscow as a MICE destination.
Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visit/indians-among-top-visitors-to-moscow-from-non-cis-states/articleshow/109561525.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
