MITT 2010 – RUSSIA’S LARGEST TOURISM EXHIBITION

With the winter season all but over, the tourism industry is looking to the spring season and MITT, the 17th Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition, which takes place on 17-20 March 2010 in Expocentre, in the heart of Moscow. This year’s partner country is Greece. Over 16 years, MITT has become one of the top five travel exhibitions in the world. At the 2009 event, approximately 3,000 companies from 157 countries and regions took part in the exhibition and, according to Event Director, Maria Badakh, the 2010 figures are expected to be similar. “Despite the crisis, Russians have not stopped travelling and interest in attracting larger numbers of these lucrative travellers has not diminished. MITT has a very high proportion of regular exhibitors, but this year, we are pleased to introduce a number of new companies, such as Riu Hotels & Resorts, Barcelo Hotels & Resort, Air Baltic, Yatra Exotic Routes, Minar Travel, LookAsia, Essence Asia and Chrismar Hotels Zambia. MITT will also feature some new destinations, including Netherlands, Albania, and Réunion. Greece, our partner country, is organising a number of events that will inspire our visitors.” Every year, MITT attracts over 80,000 visitors. This year, a new registration system is being launched that will give visitors direct access to the exhibition from the metro. Also new for 2010 is the medical tourism sector in Pavilion 2, Hall 3, consisting of an exhibition and co-located conference and featuring companies such as Bayern-Osteuropa OHG. For the third time this year, Pavilion 1 will host a conference on technology for the travel and tourism industry, including new solutions for online bookings and marketing. This year the ‘Wild Card’ was won by Vancouver Tourism – this will be the first time that Canada will participate in the exhibition. MITT will become part of Vancouver Tourism’s wide promotional campaign inspired by its hosting of the Olympics in February. The second day of the exhibition will be ‘Dominican Republic Day’, celebrating the opening of a new office in Moscow. The group has a stand of 208 m2. Many other destinations are demonstrating the importance of the Russian market to their tourism industry by significantly increasing the size of their stands. These include China, Israel, Japan, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Tunisia and South Africa. Dubai, MITT’s partner destination in 2009, continues to have a major presence at the exhibition, with a stand of 350 m2. Also, Latvia and Kenya make a welcome return to the exhibition this year following huge demand from tour operators in the region.