At a time when Rsussia is endevouring to break the people’s perception that country might not be safe to travel amid the ongoing war with Ukraine, the news of OTOAI’s sixth annual convention taking place in Moscow has come like the most wishful opportunity for tourism fraternity of Russia.
While announcing the Convention in New Delhi, in the august presence of Delegates from the Moscow City Tourism Committee, Himanshu Patil, President, OTOAI, elaborated on the salient features and objective of the Convention in details. He feels that the upcoming Convention will surely enhance the number of travellers including leisure, MICE and wedding segments from India to Russia.
“The Convention aims to boost Indian travellers numbers to Moscow, highlight its diverse offerings to Indian outbound market with a focus on MICE tourism and establish a perception of Moscow as a safe and vibrant destination for Indians.”
“Moscow is a friendly place to be in. Very safe. We have been there twice, and it is really safe to travel there. In terms of the number of OTOAI delegates for the Convention, we are targeting about 180 delegates, and I think we will achieve the target.”
Delegates of Moscow City Tourism Committee underlined the importance of the Indian market and said that they expect the Convention to significantly boost the number of Indian visitors to Moscow.
“Having received just about 85,000 tourists from India, it’s still under top three markets for Russia. Speaking more on this, Anastasia Popova, Head of Business Tourism Development Department, Moscow City Tourism Committee, “We understand that this number is not very impressive, that is why we are endeavouring to engage in much more activities in India, organising awareness campaigns, and FAM trips for potential buyers from India.”
She strongly feels that “OTOAI Convention is a crucial opportunity to showcase the real beauty of Moscow City, it’s so safe and ready for tourism. Through this Convention tour operators will be able to have a firsthand experience.”
The Vice President & Convention Chairman, Shravan Bhalla, said that the three-day event will be followed by a post-FAM trip to Saint Petersburg for all delegates.
“We always look for something out of the box destination, which needs little bit of a boost and then we are on it. So, it took almost one and a half years for us to finalize this because this all started in the early 2024 with our meetings with Moscow City Tourism Committee,” Bhalla tells India Outbound.”
Moscow a vibrant city, which offers almost everything an Indian traveller is looking for whether its MICE, luxury, honeymooners, smaller family groups, FITs it suits to everyone’s need with lovely sightseeing Kremlin, Red Square, beautiful place.
OTOAI said that it has prepared an attractive package for the OTOAI delegates who would be attending the Convention. The cost for attending the Convention in Moscow and a post-event FAM trip to Saint Petersburg starts at INR 79,999, for Active Members of OTOAI.
Monia Kapoor, Joint Secretary, OTOAI said, “This convention will open up the key points on the ease of travel to Russia, the ease of visa. And how everything can be arranged internally. So, we are really looking forward to the prospects of giving our members that edge of discovering how they can promote new destination to their clients.”
The OTOAI team adds that the venue of the Convention will be Carlton Hotel, Moscow with Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot, is the partner airline. The OTOAI delegates said that registration for the Convention will shortly be available on OTOAI website, and a detailed programme will be also shared soon.
