In 2019-2020, the Russian Convention Bureau cooperated with ENITED Business Events(Austria) and Roscongress
Foundation to start working on the strategy of promoting Russia as a favorable
place for business events, which is expected to become the foundation of RCB
activities on the international market.
The main goal was to determine key directions for working with international
associations and more effective promotion of various regions of the country,
considering the expectations that foreign audiences have.
The presentation of all the major parameters of the strategy and the
discussion with developers and invited experts took place on the online platform of DATA FORUM, the
technical partner of the project. The Russian Convention Bureau was represented
by its Director, AlexeyKalachev, foreign experts include Ivo Franschitz, Managing
Director and Owner of ENITED Business Events and Henrik
von Arnold, Senior Consultant
of ENITED Business Events. The discussion was also attended by Alexander Porodnov, CEO of ANO ‘Investment Promotion Agency of the Sverdlovsk
Region’, and Pavel Mayorov, CEO of Krasnodar
Region Development Corporation NJSC. The session was moderated by Timofey Okroev, CEO of the Russian
Translation Company.
As part of the strategy to promote Russia on the
international market, the main messages were defined as follows:
•
Onevoice&Onemessage
The main mission, goals and objectives of the Russian
Convention Bureau includes creating and promoting the unified brand of Russia
within the framework of any marketing activities of any player (city of region)
on the market of international business events.
•
A network of
regions
Through the Russian Convention Bureau Russia will
create a network of strong cities/regions, with the necessary support at the
local level and readiness to cooperate for promotion of the unique proposal of
the region at the international market of business events.
•
Creating
results
Considering the level and scale of the tasks the
destination of such size as Russia faces, one of the key factors is
availability of resources, first and foremost human resources.
International experts say that Russia is a relatively new and
interesting player on the international event market. Many customers are
currently looking for “unexplored destinations” and new opportunities for
holding events. Customers have also reacted positively to the key message used
by the Russian Convention Bureau in its communications on the international
market: RUSSIA OPEN TO THE WORLD.
One of the main tasks for the RCB and members of the Association for the next
several years is to “breathe life” into this slogan.
The document discusses in detail the target audiences
in terms of geographical regions, and different spheres of activity as well as
formats and tools of working with them. The document provides assessment of
competitors and discuses key advantages of the country on the global market of
business events, which include tremendous diversity and event potential of
different regions, developed infrastructure, availability of scientific and
technical potential for interaction with foreign science associations.
Considering the scale and the geographic diversity of
the country, the strategy focused on the regions. Three regions of Russia –Svedlovsk, Krasnodar and IrkutskRegions
were used for assessment and analysis and provided recommendations on future
development of these destinations on the event market.
According to Pavel
Mayorov, CEO of Krasnodar Region
Development Corporation NJSC, regions need to come together to communicate their advantages within
the same unified message, which would be more successful in the part of
promotion on the international arena.
Alexander Porodnov, CEO of ANO ‘Investment Promotion Agency of the Sverdlovsk
Region’, said that in his opinion it
was necessary to promote Russia and its regions on the international market as
a destination for business events, and that the strategy would be used in their
work by all means. “We are hoping to continue working closely with
international experts, our colleagues from other regions and the Russian
Convention Bureau,” he said.
RCB Director AlexeyKalachev
noted that in 2019 Russia took the 35th position in the international
rating of ICCA (International Congress and Conference Association), which was
presented on May 12. This result is 7 places higher than in 2018, when
Russia took the 42nd place in the rating. Russia ranked among top 20
European nations in the same rating. To achieve still higher results, Russia
will need to develop and promote its brand actively, using all the tools
available on the external and internal market. “The positive dynamic allows us
to conclude that the Russian event industry is developing fast, and Russian
destinations help improve Russia’s positions on the international event
market,” AlexeyKalachev commented.
Link to broadcast:
·
https://youtu.be/gsRnPA1Mb_k (English)
·
https://youtu.be/uFhKx-TJGSI(Simultaneous translation into Russian)
Technical partner of the
Conference: DATA FORUM Company
Simultaneous translation
partner: Russian Translation Company
Information partner: Event LIVE – business portal for event industry professionals
