11/08/2019 16:29

The 6th MITF Exhibition In Moscow

From May 11th to May 14th Gostinny Dvor will welcome the 6th MITF Exhibition. The coming event is generating the great interest of travel market experts due to the fact that MITF will be the third travel industry event of spring 2006. Besides, the organizers of the exhibition – The Moscow Exhibition And Congress Agency – will traditionally pay special attention to the Russian regions. Given Intourmarket, which was also launched as a regional project, it is curious which regions will participate in MITF. Alexander Davidov, General Director of MITF, said in the interview to a BANKO correspondent, that a number of exhibitors will increase to 1100 (in 2005 1,000 companies participated in the exhibition). Moreover, the number of countries-participants is also expected to grow from 40 to 45. In addition to travel programs, Russian Regions will participate in Sweet Russia project in Bolshoi Manezh. Besides, Moscow hotels, which are under construction, will have a chance to present themselves. According to experts, such a creative approach is an attempt of organizers to survive in the current competitive environment. However, Davidov stated that there is pointless to compare MITF with MITT and Intourmarket: ‘it is not a competition! We do not charge companies from the Russian regions for exhibiting. As for foreign companies participation rates are reasonable. Therefore, all companies can participate in all three exhibitions without prejudice to their budgets’. Meanwhile, independent experts confirm the fact that participation in MITF is cheaper than in other exhibition projects. Firstly, MITF rates are in dollars, while MITT and Intourmarket rates are in Euro. In general, the difference per square meter is around 100Euro between MITF and MITT and 30 Euro between MITF and Intourmarket with MITF offering the cheaper rate. A BANKO correspondent found out that representatives of regional companies don not give their preferences to any particular Moscow exhibition. Thus, Konstantin Brilyakov, Deputy of the Minister of Tourism of Sverdlovsk Region commented as follows: ‘at ITM we presented Sverdlovsk region, while we plan to participate in MITF at Ekaterinburg stand. We are interested in both projects’. Furthermore, Viktor Stepantsov, Director of Kazan travel agency Kazan-intour, also shared his opinion with the correspondent: ‘our final decision will depend on the approach of organizers. We always participate in MITF with our new offers. I would like to point out that the exhibition has always been effective for our company’. Furthermore, Moscow tour operators also show enthusiasm towards participating in MITF: ‘MITF is held right before the summer season, therefore, except professionals it will be visited by general public who plan their summer holidays. Moreover, large tour operating companies prefer other exhibitions, thus, reducing the competition’, commented Alexay Solomatov, Director of Samiko.