At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which was held from June 18 to 21, 2025, at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center, companies signed a number of agreements in the hospitality industry.
Sofia Malyavina, CEO of the National Priorities ANO, presented the Time to Travel collection, which was created specifically for travelers from China and Arab countries. The catalog includes 12 routes in 13 regions of Russia.
Plans for tourism development in different regions
For example, in St. Petersburg they plan to create a chain of boutique hotels with interiors from the 18th–19th centuries, in the Leningrad Region — four health resorts, in Anapa — three five-star hotels, in Sochi — a hotel complex with a water park and a health complex with balneotherapy and mud therapy.
According to some experts, the following regions of Russia may be promising for tourism development in 2025:
Altai. The region has ski resorts, trekking, hiking, yoga camps, and retreats.
Kaliningrad Oblast. Tourists may be attracted by the Baltic beaches, as well as various leisure activities: museums, galleries, theaters, the philharmonic, and excursions to castles.
Lake Baikal. There are opportunities for ecotourism: trips to Olkhon Island, hiking, and excursions to Cape Khoboy.
The lakes of Central Russia — Seliger and Valdai. They attract tourists with their silence, the opportunity to rent houses on the shore and go fishing or kayaking.
Thermal resorts of the Urals. The most famous are located in Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, and Kurgan.
In key regions of the south and west of the country, investments of about 200 billion rubles were announced in projects that will change the appearance of holiday areas. It is planned to create ecosystems with water parks, SPA complexes, fitness centers and cultural and entertainment spaces.
The implementation of the announced projects will significantly improve the quality of tourist services and will also have a positive impact on the development of domestic tourism and the regional economy.
CHENGDU / CHONGQING, 23 September 2026 – The Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) successfully concluded the second segment of its China Roadshow 2026 in Chengdu and Chongqing, further strengthening Malaysia’s engagement with China’s Business Events and incentive travel market.
The China Outbound & Inbound Travel Market (COITM) will take place from 14–16 October 2026 at New Hall (Hall 11) of the National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing.
Colombo, Sri Lanka – 22nd September 2026 — The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB), the national tourism organization responsible for the development and promotion of Sri Lanka’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, has announced the launch of SL MICE Expo 2026, bringing together more than 120 international hosted buyers and media representatives from 27 countries.
The China International MICE Exchange (CIMX) will take place from November 3–5, 2026, at the China National Convention Center (CNCC II) in Beijing.
The Russian hotel chain AZIMUT Hotels is expanding its international presence and entering the tourism market of the Persian Gulf countries. Two of the Russian chain's resort hotels are set to open in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula this October.
The Czech capital has reaffirmed its position among the top 10 most sought-after meeting destinations in the world, despite the growing competition of Asian cities. This year's ranking is dominated by Vienna, followed by Lisbon, Singapore and Barcelona with Prague in the fifth place.
ITB China 2025, taking place from May 27 to 29 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, will unveil the Travel Innovation Hub, a unique new platform showcasing the intelligent and sustainable integration of technology into the travel industry.
The spring season kicked off this week with MCE North & West Europe, so far Europe Congress’ biggest event of 2025. Over 250 MICE event professionals gathered in London for 2.5 days of productive match-made B2B meetings, sophisticated dinner evenings, and engaging city experience tours.