Strategic partner of Expoforum International is 5 years old

Saint Petersburg Convention Bureau turns 5 years old. Ambassadors of the city, dozens of the largest congress and exhibition international events, subsidies for organizers and hundreds of thousands of business tourists ‒ so SPB state budgetary institution "Congress and exhibition bureau" celebrates its fifth anniversary.

Today, the city is implementing an ambitious task – to enter the top congress cities of Europe. For these purposes, under the authority of the Committee for tourism development of St. Petersburg, a Congress and exhibition bureau performs which carries out large-scale work to promote the city as a world-class business destination.

Main achievements in facts and figures 

Within 5 years, the specialists of the Congress and exhibition bureau submitted 78 applications for attracting international business events to St. Petersburg. According to the results of the competitions, our city received the right to host 25 conferences, congresses and summits in the field of medicine, science, industry, culture and gastronomy, with a total number of delegates of 45,000 people.

More than 20 inspection visits to St. Petersburg were conducted for representatives of the international associations and industry media from Russia, Europe and the United States. Such visits are also organized in preparation for major business events in the city.

Thus, representatives of the UN world tourism organization (UNWTO) visited St. Petersburg. At the moment, St. Petersburg is actively preparing for the 23rd UNWTO General Assembly which our city will host from 9. to 13. September 2019. Around 1,500 UNWTO member delegates from 159 countries will attend the event.

Further development of cooperation with associations is one of the key directions in the work of the Congress bureau. Already today, the congresses of associations annually generate about 2 billion rubles for the city's economy.

To attract international events, the specialists of the Congress bureau together with the leading operators of the tourism industry of St. Petersburg will present the city at international exhibitions of outbound tourism. Since 2014, the exposition of St. Petersburg has been presented at 45 events in 15 countries on 3 continents.

More than 500 individual meetings with leading experts, representatives of business and government were held within the framework of the exhibitions, and dozens of presentations of St. Petersburg were held.

The driver of the change. Program "Ambassador of St. Petersburg»

In 2018, the Convention Bureaulaunched program "Ambassador of St. Petersburg". International experience shows that Ambassador programs are implemented by cities in Europe, America and Asia. According to the ICCA (international Association of congresses and conferences), more than 70% of international events are involved in the destination with the active participation of ambassadors. St. Petersburg became the first city in Russia to start implementing this promising and so far unique project for our country.

"Ambassador of St. Petersburg" program is a set of tools and services designed for the further attraction of opinion leaders to participate in contests to attract international events. At the moment, 9 agreements have been signed with the city's ambassadors. 40 agreements are planned to be signed by the first quarter of 2020.

Subsidies as an effective way of the support within the framework of the development of the industry

Also since 2018, the Convention Bureau participates in the contests organisations of subsidies of the St. Petersburg Committee for tourism development in which socially-oriented non-profit organizations can apply for reimbursement of costs from the city budget. In 2019, 50 million rubles are provided for the issue of subsidies.

Plans and prospects. What will happen to business St. Petersburg?

"The past years have become a landmark for both the Congress bureau and the entire Congress and exhibition industry of St. Petersburg as a whole. Big work on strengthening of the city brand as an international business centre was carried out" ‒ stated the general director of Convention Bureau Andrey Mazarin. ‒ I am glad to note that the development of this direction is engaged in a team of smart professionals who work with dedication for the benefit of St. Petersburg. These five years have been extremely fruitful but the most important successes are certainly yet to come."

The plans from 2019 to 2024 will include events with a total number of 23 thousand delegates in St. Petersburg. Among the key events: world energy Congress (the year 2022), International Congress of mathematics (the year 2022), Symposium of the International Association of film commissions (the year 2019), world Congress of chefs in 2020, Annual meeting of the European society of cosmetic dentistry (the year 2019). Also in 2020, the International space conference on space exploration will be held for the first time, and in 2022, St. Petersburg will host the International Conference of planetariums.

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Strategic partner of Expoforum International is 5 years old

Saint Petersburg Convention Bureau turns 5 years old. Ambassadors of the city, dozens of the largest congress and exhibition international events, subsidies for organizers and hundreds of thousands of business tourists ‒ so SPB state budgetary institution "Congress and exhibition bureau" celebrates its fifth anniversary.

Today, the city is implementing an ambitious task – to enter the top congress cities of Europe. For these purposes, under the authority of the Committee for tourism development of St. Petersburg, a Congress and exhibition bureau performs which carries out large-scale work to promote the city as a world-class business destination.

Main achievements in facts and figures 

Within 5 years, the specialists of the Congress and exhibition bureau submitted 78 applications for attracting international business events to St. Petersburg. According to the results of the competitions, our city received the right to host 25 conferences, congresses and summits in the field of medicine, science, industry, culture and gastronomy, with a total number of delegates of 45,000 people.

More than 20 inspection visits to St. Petersburg were conducted for representatives of the international associations and industry media from Russia, Europe and the United States. Such visits are also organized in preparation for major business events in the city.

Thus, representatives of the UN world tourism organization (UNWTO) visited St. Petersburg. At the moment, St. Petersburg is actively preparing for the 23rd UNWTO General Assembly which our city will host from 9. to 13. September 2019. Around 1,500 UNWTO member delegates from 159 countries will attend the event.

Further development of cooperation with associations is one of the key directions in the work of the Congress bureau. Already today, the congresses of associations annually generate about 2 billion rubles for the city's economy.

To attract international events, the specialists of the Congress bureau together with the leading operators of the tourism industry of St. Petersburg will present the city at international exhibitions of outbound tourism. Since 2014, the exposition of St. Petersburg has been presented at 45 events in 15 countries on 3 continents.

More than 500 individual meetings with leading experts, representatives of business and government were held within the framework of the exhibitions, and dozens of presentations of St. Petersburg were held.

The driver of the change. Program "Ambassador of St. Petersburg»

In 2018, the Convention Bureaulaunched program "Ambassador of St. Petersburg". International experience shows that Ambassador programs are implemented by cities in Europe, America and Asia. According to the ICCA (international Association of congresses and conferences), more than 70% of international events are involved in the destination with the active participation of ambassadors. St. Petersburg became the first city in Russia to start implementing this promising and so far unique project for our country.

"Ambassador of St. Petersburg" program is a set of tools and services designed for the further attraction of opinion leaders to participate in contests to attract international events. At the moment, 9 agreements have been signed with the city's ambassadors. 40 agreements are planned to be signed by the first quarter of 2020.

Subsidies as an effective way of the support within the framework of the development of the industry

Also since 2018, the Convention Bureau participates in the contests organisations of subsidies of the St. Petersburg Committee for tourism development in which socially-oriented non-profit organizations can apply for reimbursement of costs from the city budget. In 2019, 50 million rubles are provided for the issue of subsidies.

Plans and prospects. What will happen to business St. Petersburg?

"The past years have become a landmark for both the Congress bureau and the entire Congress and exhibition industry of St. Petersburg as a whole. Big work on strengthening of the city brand as an international business centre was carried out" ‒ stated the general director of Convention Bureau Andrey Mazarin. ‒ I am glad to note that the development of this direction is engaged in a team of smart professionals who work with dedication for the benefit of St. Petersburg. These five years have been extremely fruitful but the most important successes are certainly yet to come."

The plans from 2019 to 2024 will include events with a total number of 23 thousand delegates in St. Petersburg. Among the key events: world energy Congress (the year 2022), International Congress of mathematics (the year 2022), Symposium of the International Association of film commissions (the year 2019), world Congress of chefs in 2020, Annual meeting of the European society of cosmetic dentistry (the year 2019). Also in 2020, the International space conference on space exploration will be held for the first time, and in 2022, St. Petersburg will host the International Conference of planetariums.

More