TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
St.Petersburg’s ‘Visit Saint Petersburg!’ roadshow concluded successfully in Riyadh. The event, formed on the initiative and with the participation of specialists from the tourism industry in St. Petersburg and organised by the Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg and the City Tourist Information Bureau, included a series of workshops.
TT Bureau
As many as 115 trade partners gathered for the St. Petersburg roadshow in Riyadh. The guests were welcomed by Arbi Abubakarov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Relations of St. Petersburg; Stanislav Yankovets, Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Yulia Bondareva, Deputy General Director of the City Tourist Information Bureau of St. Petersburg. The welcome speeches were followed by the presentation of St Petersburg and the travel partners from St Petersburg, among whom was General Director of the Northern Capital Gateway Company (operator of the Pulkovo airport), Leonid Sergeev.
Participants of the hospitality industry of the Northern capital presented their programmes and established direct contacts with the Middle Eastern colleagues. There was also a discussion of the possibility of establishing direct air communication between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and St. Petersburg.
The representatives of the tourist business of the region got acquainted with the novelties of St. Petersburg, classic programmes, the new tourist geography of the city on the Neva river. Roadshow visitors also learned about the historical sights of St. Petersburg, architectural masterpieces, the event calendar, educational and religious routes, and much more. Particular attention was paid to the organisation of direct flights to the Northern capital. The presentation attracted the attention of representatives of tour operators and professional associations, airlines, organisers of MICE events and specialized media from the Middle East.
Lilia Golovanova, Founder of tour operator TORUSSIA.TRAVEL, said, “On behalf of my company, I would like to thank organisers and Committee for Tourism Development of St.Petersburg, the sponsor of this fantastic event, for this unique opportunity to connect with our colleagues in Saudi Arabia. We do hope to establish mutual and fruitful long-term partnerships.”
Ahmed Abdelfattah from My Flight, said, “It was a great opportunity to know more information about St. Petersburg. We have met a lot of suppliers, great suppliers who told us about St. Petersburg, more information about touristic places and we will, inshallah, visit St. Petersburg and Moscow also. All Russia is a beautiful place to visit. St. Petersburg has many beautiful places. So, I’m excited to visit them. I will really advise to all my clients to visit St. Petersburg, of course. So, for us it’s a new area, touristic area and we want to discover all touristic places in Russia also. Thank you very much!”
Sajjad Haider, Business Development Manager, Maharah Travel, said, “Thank you very much for organising this beautiful event. It was fantastic! After a long time, we are enjoying and keeping ourselves updated about St. Petersburg. And those participants and business partners, they are coming from far away, from St. Petersburg. It’s beautiful and it’s good to know that things are becoming better, and people are planning to go to Russia. And hopefully in future the e-visa will be resumed, and hopefully Saudi people will love to go there again. And it will be good for us to have a business collaboration with all the business partners here. And we will love to do business for future and hopefully it will be vice versa. People will go to Russia, and they will come from Russia to Saudi Arabia. Hopefully, it will be good for all of us. Thank you very much once again!”
Fahad Parvez from Fly Areen Travel & Tours, said, “Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to attend St. Petersburg Roadshow. It is the first time I have attended the roadshow and it is really a good opportunity to learn about the destinations and tourist companies operating in Russian state. Today, it had a big exposure for such destinations, and we are happy to welcome you in Saudi Arabia! Many things we can do together to promote the business from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh as well. And you are most welcome to visit the other cities. We have good potential in Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and Madina. We have a good, green destination Al Ula. So, we are looking forward to welcome you over there as well. Thank you so much!”
