On January 19, the XII Eurasian Event Forum opened in the PetroCongress Congress Center.

Sergey Alexeev, First Vice President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, Vice President of ExpoForum International, told about state support of the convention and exhibition industry.

“In 12 years of our meetings, our industry has grown stronger. Russian GDP gets 2 % of our activity, it is an important contribution. Now the industry employs 44,446 companies. In the past few years, despite COVID, 20,000 new business professionals have emerged. We were recognized at the state level. The state leaders began to realize that our activity is a serious economic stimulus. Exhibition standards have been updated, the Russian quality mark has appeared, and the government has seriously taken up the issue. A roadmap has been developed; a federal law to regulate our industry and introduction of the concept of a convention and exhibition event are in progress. Measures for additional financial support of companies are under development. At the Forum we will get new ideas on how to promote our activities,” Alexeev said.

Chairman of St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development Sergey Korneev told about the importance of business tourism for the city economy.

“In 2022, we welcomed 8 million tourists, 33 % more than in 2021. The contribution of tourism to the economy increased by 57 %; tourists brought 4 billion rubles to our city. Event tourism is showing good progress, business tourism is leading by volume of financial revenues. More than a million tourists visited the city for business purposes,” said Korneev.

The XII Eurasian Event Forum takes place from January 18 to 20 in the PetroCongress Congress Center.