From 27 to 29 November 2018 in Barcelona (Spain) in the Fira Gran Via complex held a key event in the field of meetings industry world exhibition IBTM World-2018, in which Russia took part for the second time in the collective stand RUSSIA OPEN TO THE WORLD. Russian exposition was organized by the Russian Convention Bureau with informational support of Roscongress Foundation.
«From the
point of view of organization and holding of international events, Russia has
confidently occupied its niche in the global event space. This shows both the
results of events already held in the country over the past 5 years and the
results of Russias participation in international projects abroad, comments the Adviser to the President of
the Russian Federation, Anton Kobyakov. «The national exposition of
Russia has justly presented the eventful possibilities of the regions at IBTM
World 2018 in Barcelona with dignity, forming a solid platform for further
dialogue between the economies of Russia and the West.»
16 companies performed under
the single brand RUSSIA OPEN TO THE WORLD on the joint exhibit
organized by the Russian Convention Bureau representing the professional market
of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kaliningrad Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Krasnodar
Krai, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. Among the co-exhibitors are active participants of previous
international exhibitions, as well as new companies. For the first time the
year-round mountain resort «Rosa Khutor», Committee of tourism
Development of Kazan, Ritz Carlton Moscow, «SPB city Group» company, the
information and tourist center of the Leningrad region presented their
opportunities.
"This year we were presented with a large
collective stand, increasing the number of co-exhibitors and changing the very
approach to organizing the exhibition. A distinctive feature of the Russian
stand was the presentation of not individual participating companies, but a set
of event opportunities in the sphere of a particular region, which allowed to
open Russia as a reliable and confident participant in the global meeting
industry«,-comments the Director of
the National Congress Bureau Alexey Kalachev.
Foreign guests were offered
speeches by representatives of the regions of Russia and the Russian Convention
Bureau: for three days 33
presentations of event opportunities of the largest cities of the country Moscow,
St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg were held at the
stand. Russian
companies held 670 business meetings, providing extensive
opportunities for foreign partners to promote in the regions of the Russian
Federation. Of these, more than 40
meetings with target market participants were held by the Russian Convention
Bureau, demonstrating to foreign organizers the infrastructure diversity and
maximum readiness of Russia to hold events of any level.
The stand
attracted wide attention not only from international buyers, but also from
leading European trade publications. The Russian Convention Bureau held
meetings with the heads of major publishers such as Cat Publications, Mash
Media, Meeting Media Group, Trade Fairs International, that showed great
interest in Russian participation and were happy to share the opportunities of
Russian regions with their readers.
As part of the business
program, an educational seminar on how to attract
international events was held for co-exhibitors. Host of the event Larisa Tasevskaya (managing Director and partner
of the Arena Destination Marketing in New York) spoke about the opportunities
in the region for holding large international events, the trends of the
industry and the secrets of events at a high level.
During the three days of IBTM
World, more than 2,500 specialists from the
international meeting industry visited the national exposition of Russia.
The participants of the national stand, representing their regions for
the first time, were satisfied with the results and noted a non-trivial
approach to the organization of the stand representation of Russia through
regional expositions. According to them, it allowed to present regional
opportunities and «almost win-win» to place potential partners to
further cooperation.
The Russian Convention Bureau thanks the participants of the Russian exposition for their well-coordinated and efficient work and their foreign partners and buyers for their trust and interest.