Elena Ublieva identified a key problem the industry faced the previous year.

“In 2022, internationally rotated congresses left Russia. They were an important element of the industry. They brought together more than 10,000 participants, they were attended by business tourists that brought significant sums to the regional budgets. This niche will not be replenished easily. On the other hand, we all work on establishment of the international MICE consortium with friendly countries — one that will become an alternative for UFI and other organizations where we had to suspend membership because of the political situation. In December we signed the Agreement with India; there will be two more signing at the Eurasian Event Forum. We understand that substitution has to take place in this area, though the rotated events are very difficult to replace,” Ublieva said.

Sergey Alexeev, First Vice President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs and Vice President of ExpoForum International, shared how the industry would respond to new challenges.

“International events are leaving us, but the national ones start reviving and their number is increasing. For example, “Russian Industrialist” has made it to the federal level and united all the key actors of the industrial sector, covered all the most critical issues — import substitution, promotion on international markets, development of high technologies, etc. Though we, of course, feel a certain vacuum — primarily because we are not given access to the information that could have allowed us identifying global trends and tendencies. That is why we need to think how to use our own achievements in the most efficient way possible,” Alexeev said.

The 12th Eurasian Event Forum takes place on January 18–20 in the Petrokongress Convention Centre.