andrey_zhukovskiy

 

[pullquote]The city wins “at face value”, not by a specific social media craft[/pullquote]Q: What trends do you think we will see in meetings and events in your city in the next 12 months?
At the moment, Moscow is about two things: innovations and sports. Innovations – because Moscow is rapidly gaining ground as one of world’s leading centres for high technology and industry, complete with a silicon valley, dozens of technological clusters, outstanding brainpower and substantial investment both from the business sector and the Federal Government. This, in its turn, results in a palette of hi-tech-themed events scheduled over the next 12 months in the fields such as IT, nanotechnology, microelectronics, robotics, space research and biomedical technology. The big event that will put Moscow on the global scientific and industrial map in 2016 is the 33rd IASP (International Association of Science Parks) World Conference that will see the who-is-who among the world science park elite in Moscow for the first time.

Sports-wise, the Russian capital is busy getting ready to host the FIFA World Cup, which will turn Moscow into the sports Mecca of 2018. The hotel and venue bookings are in full swing, the new accommodation and event facilities are being given final touch-ups. The whole massive infrastructure has recently been put to the test during this year’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, and we’re proud to say our city did a wonderful job.

Another important first for Moscow is the Summer meeting of the ICCA Central European Chapter, which our capital is getting ready to host this summer. We are sure the meeting will give our guests a perspective of Moscow’s convention infrastructure and will outline the spectacular possibilities for future international meetings to be held in our city.

Q: How is your city positioned as a meeting destination today and what are its positive attributes that are often overlooked?
Over the past 20 years Moscow has gained a reputation as a sophisticated and exorbitantly expensive megacity. Thousands of prospective meeting planners drawn by Moscow’s novelty and splendour were put off by the price tag. These days, due to a sharp change in the Rouble-Euro exchange ratio, Moscow luxury is suddenly turning quite affordable – to the point that one can now organize events of all shapes and sizes in Moscow for 1/2 or even 1/3 of what it cost in 2014. This, in its turn, plays up to Moscow’s popularity on the international meetings destination scene. The image remains the same while the costs have shrunk dramatically.

Obviously, with 12 major exhibition and convention centres, 30 congress hotels and 40 000 sq. m. of congress space, Moscow is capable of hosting massive international events like the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Congress in 2014 or the oncoming FIFA World Cup in 2018. In terms of culture, 450 museums, 64 grand palaces, 182 theatres and a score of UNESCO world heritage buildings make Moscow a fantastic place to be. Still, what makes our capital a really strong competitor on the meetings industry market, and growing stronger by the year, is its appeal of freshness and novelty to international meeting planners. Let’s face it, everybody has been virtually everywhere. The circle of the unexplored and less explored destinations is constantly narrowing, therefore “new” and “discovery” are the buzz words on the market. Incidentally, that is what Moscow has to offer in plenty.

Q: How hard is it to get the message out about all that your city has to offer?
Some less evident aspects of the city’s allure need highlighting and promoting, others quite simply speak for themselves. The social media, the trade shows, the trade press – the traditional channels are a great help and we certainly rely on them. Still, we strongly believe that most of the promotion is done by word of mouth and through personal contacts, which is why we’re involved in direct bidding for major association events, for example. You can’t beat direct communication when it comes to attracting international meetings.

Q: How do you see relationship between the meetings industry and the tourism industry?
In my opinion the correlation is a very direct one. The overall tourist appeal of a city leads to companies and organizations wanting to hold meetings there. After all, businesses are people and people are driven by the spirit of discovery. This explains why, according to Tripadvisor, Moscow holds the second place in Europe and the fifth place globally among the most popular developing tourist destinations.

Among the first to appreciate the new visiting opportunities were the practically-minded Chinese tourists. According to the official statistics, the tourist flow from China doubled in 2015 as compared to 2014, reaching the record figure of 670 000 visitors. The estimate for 2016 is even more impressive: over 1 300 000 tourists from China are expected in Moscow by the close of the year. The overall tourist forecast for 2016 is 17 500 000, mostly visitors from Europe and Asia. 

Q: Tell us something that might surprise meeting planners about your city?
Probably the size and scale of everything. Moscow is arguably the biggest European capital, and that goes to most things within the city limits. We’ve got the tallest building in Europe and the largest shopping mall in Europe. When we do things, we do them proper and solid.

Q: Can content marketing drive meeting planners to your destination?
Definitely. But, like with most other things, we like to look upon the Internet not as a marketing battleground, but as a natural flow of ideas which does not need to be rigidly controlled by the marketeers. For example, Moscow wins the people’s choice award, being the fourth city globally by the number photos published on Instagram – right after Paris, New York and London. We appreciate this recognition, the more so because the city wins “at face value”, not by a specific social media craft.

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