All roads lead to Russia

Hosted by Euroexpo, the 24th edition of OTDYKH Leisure 2018 is set to be held from September 11-13 at Expocentre Fairgrounds in Moscow. OTDYKH or Leisure Travel Market, Russia’s leading travel and tourism event, will once again witness a record number of participants from all over the world.

Shehara Rizly

Anna Huber, PhD—International Project Director, Euroexpo Exhibitions & Congress Development
OTDYKH Travel Market in Moscow is the perfect start for the upcoming winter season on the Russian inbound and outbound market. The 2018 edition will welcome over 800 exhibitors from 40 countries and 40 Russian regions, covering a total area of 15,000 sqm. The content rich programme will feature over 30 conferences, seminars, workshops, round-table meetings and case study presentations. The programme is set to reflect the major industry trends and will combine all relevant sectors of the tourism value chain including health, MiCE, luxury travel, etc. Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) will be back to OTDYKH Leisure this year as partner country and will showcase Japanese offerings to visitors with a comprehensive entertaining programme.

Fazil Ozmen, General Manager, Anex Tour
The ease of visa facility by the visionary leaders of the UAE has seen a steady growth of Russian tourists to the UAE. For example, the season of 2016-17 witnessed 60,000 tourists while 2017-18 saw an increased number of almost 180,000 visitors. We hope to continue these impressive numbers further during this season as we expect to break the record. A majority of these travellers with 40 per cent enjoy Dubai, another 40 per cent prefer Sharjah with Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah each enjoying 7.5 per cent and Abu Dhabi with 5 per cent. Among their key attractions, Dubai takes pride as the first place with the highest building, biggest aquarium and the city tour. They also enjoy the Grand Mosque and Louvre in Abu Dhabi, spend a day by the Indian ocean shore in Fujairah, try helicopter or yacht tour to see the city from the other side.

Ekaterina Serebryakova, Head—Sales and Marketing, Olta Travel
With three offices each in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Baikal Lake, we provide travel services in Russia, CIS countries and Baltic States. Among more than 50 countries, with which Olta Travel operates, Middle East is a very important market. We face an increasing interest to Russian destinations from tourists, which became even stronger after the FIFA 2018. Attending Leisure Moscow 2018 is an efficient way to expand your knowledge of destinations, establish new contacts and find reliable partners to significantly affect your business. Tourism professionals from the Middle East will find it useful to discover new destinations and their growing tourism opportunities. They are developing at a growing speed and in order to stand out from the competition, you need to be aware of the changes.