In the first half of 2024, the number of tourists who visited the Russian capital from India increased 1.5 times compared to the same period of 2023. In total, from January to June of this year, 28.5 thousand travelers from India came to the city compared to 19.4 thousand in the same period last year. Thus, India took third place among visitors from foreign countries for the number of tourists who chose Moscow as a destination for their travel.
Business trips remain one of the most popular purposes of visiting the Russian capital: every fifth tourist from India comes to Moscow with business goals. Only in the first quarter of this year, India entered the top 3 countries in terms of the number of business travelers visiting Moscow. At the same time, about 40 percent of business tourists then return to the Russian capital for a family vacation.
The Moscow City Tourism Committee considers India as a priority market and regularly holds events and implements projects aimed at attracting tourists from the region: both leisure and MICE.
Thus, at the end of the year, on December 16 and 17, Moscow will host the international conference Meet Global MICE Congress: BRICS Edition, which is the annual business event that has already established itself as a global platform for the interaction of the MICE industry representatives. Congress will bring together key stakeholders of the MICE industry, and provide new opportunities for BRICS countries and the Global South to promote products and services to target audiences, and share best practices in the development of the business tourism industry.
The main topic of the 2024 Congress’s extensive 2-day business agenda "Global Challenges and Trends of the MICE Industry: Towards Sustainable Development through the Prism of Experience and Knowledge of BRICS Countries and Global South".
As explained by Deputy Mayor of Moscow Natalia Sergunina, experts will discuss the prospects for the development of the industry, as well as tools that will increase business tourism flow. Particular attention will be paid to such issues as interstate and interregional cooperation of the BRICS countries in the field of MICE tourism, as well as the challenges facing industry participants from the business community. Session participants will also discuss cases and initiatives that have already been implemented in the industry and have become new trends.
More than 100 Hosted Buyers from BRICS countries, including delegation from India and overall, more than 1000 MICE professionals will take part in Meet Global MICE Congress: BRICS Edition. Together with 13 business sessions participants will be able to take part in b2b workshops, and find new partners and destinations for their MICE events out of 94 exhibitors.
As a special part of the programme diplomas will be awarded to the best Moscow MICE Ambassadors who successfully conducted the online certification course in 2024. The second stream of the Moscow MICE Ambassadors online certification project launched by The Moscow City Tourism Committee was completed on 1st of November. As part of it, 200 professionals from India's MICE industry were trained, each of whom received a certificate of successful completion of the course.
At the end of August, Moscow also participated in one of the largest exhibitions in the field of business tourism Business + Leisure Travel and Mice 2024 (BLTM), which took place in New Delhi. In particular, at the event, the Indian Vibes in Moscow guide was presented at the event. It contains both the best restaurants of the Russian capital, offering Indian dishes, and hotels that provide the highest level of service, as well as the sights of the city, historically related to India and its outstanding figures. The guide also presents a list of the best Moscow shopping centers and other interesting locations for a variety of leisure.
Prior to this, in April 2024, the Moscow City Tourism Committee held the Shaping MICE Future conference in Delhi for representatives of the Indian MICE industry, which brought together more than 100 participants. Among other things, unusual locations in Moscow for holding business events, such as museums, parks, theaters and others, were presented there.
In September 2023, the Moscow delegation took part in Business + Leisure Travel and Mice 2023, where more than 600 business negotiations with colleagues from the Indian side were held. Moreover, the 50 first participants of Moscow MICE Ambassadors, which was launched by the Moscow City Tourism Committee in partnership with the Indian MICE Agents Association (NIMA) and offers online education and certification for Indian MICE market representatives, were awarded there for the first time.
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