The 17th International exhibition “Travel and Tourism/MITT” will take place from 17 to 20 March 2010 at the Expocentre at Krasnaya Presnya.
Russia is among ten top countries with the highest travel spending levels, which is 25 bln. US Dollars per year at present. Travel and Tourism / MITT exhibition is one of the five major international tourist exhibitions alongside WTM (London) and ITB (Berlin). Traditionally, MITT opens a new spring/summer tourist season. This event is organised by ITE, a leader of exhibition business in Russia, which also owns the autumn tourist event – Otdykh/Leisure exhibition.
This year MITT will occupy almost all pavilions at Expocentre. Pavilion 1 will accommodate Russian inbound and outbound tour operators and such sections as Information Technologies in Tourism and River Cruises. Pavilion 2 will host European and Mediterranean countries. Forum Pavilion will be occupied by Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Australia and islands. Two halls of Pavilion 8 will feature Turkey, Turkish hotels and hotel chains, as well as the largest Russian tour operators with Turkey being their priority destination. Hall 3 of Pavilion 8 is the Russian Pavilion. It will accommodate stands of Krasnodar Region, Sochi, Caucasus Mineral Waters, a joint stand “Three Capitals: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan” and stands of other Russian regions, Russian hotels, resorts and companies organising tours around Russia. The outdoor area will accommodate Russian tour operators of bus tours.
The exhibition will be attended by approximately 3000 companies representing 157 tourist destinations. Greece is a partner country of MITT 2010 and will present a large-scale display at the stand of 1600 sq m.
New destinations at the exhibition will be represented by the Netherlands with the plans to focus attention at flower festivals and Albania, which will demonstrate opportunities of its Adriatic resorts. Republic of South Africa will present special offers for footballs fans prepared for the upcoming World Cup. For the first time the exhibition will be attended by Zambia known worldwide for its Victoria waterfall and Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean next to Mauritius. The 18th of March is announced a Day of Dominican Republic and Spain at MITT.
Traditionally, the exhibition will feature Russian regions: Leningrad, Lipetsk, Kaluga, Orel, Nizhniy Novgorod and others.
Medical tourism is a special topic at MITT 2010. For the first time, Pavilion 2 (hall 3) will feature a specialised Medical Tourism Section presenting clinics and healthcare centres from all over the world. Participants of this Section include Medical Center Rogaska (Slovenia), Center of Beijing Tibet Hospital (China), Medical Center Chaim Sheba (Israel), Jordan Private Hospital Association (Jordan), Vilnius Heart Surgery Centre (Lithuania), Medical Travel GmbH, University Medical Centre Freiburg, DeutschMedic GmbH, Medcurator Ltd., Medclassic (Germany), Genolier Swiss Medical Network (Switzerland), Premiamed Management GmbH (Austria), Lissod Modern Cancer Care Hospital (Ukraine).
The 1st Moscow Congress of Medical and Healthcare Tourism will take place on the second day of the exhibition –the 18th of March. The key goal of this event is the discussion of development trends and prospects of medical and healthcare services in current economic situation. For instance, representatives of Universitaetsklinikum Freiburg, one of the most successful clinics of Germany with vast experience in working with international patients will discuss advantages of globalization of the world market of medical services. A competent overview of medical services pricing system in Germany will be presented by an expert of Hamburg University Clinic.
Specialists of Medical Center Chaim Sheba, the largest Israeli clinic, will tell the audience about preferences of Russian consumers in choosing medical and healthcare programmes. Centro Medico Teknon, a leading Spanish private operator, will present an overview of the international cancer treatment programme. The Congress will also feature presentations of representatives of Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Austrian and SWISS airlines), Genolier Swiss Medical Network (Switzerland), MedClassic (Germany), Hetex Anfas (Turkey), Swixmed (Switzerland). The co-organiser of Medical Tourism Section and Moscow Congress of Medical and Healthcare Tourism is Treatment-Abroad.ru.
The Conference “Tourism in Russia: Opportunities for Development” will take place on the 17th March. Russia is one of the most prospective tourist markets worldwide, as it possesses high potential in increasing the volumes of outbound, inbound and domestic tourism.Understanding of existing opportunities, a clear strategy and investment priorities will provide both the Russian regions and individual companies with leading positions at the tourist market.Marina Drutman, Deputy Minister of Industry of Kaliningrad Region, will share the experience in tourism marketing management in the region. Other speakers at the conference include representatives of UNWTO, Strategy Partners, Bauman Innovation, authorities of Veliky Novgorod, Konkretika, Tralliance Corporation, Yugra Service Holding.
The Conference “Information technologies in Tourism. Issues and Prospects of Electronic BSO Development” will take place on the 18th March.For companies engaged in the tourism industry application of innovative information technologies may become a strong basis for fast growth of business and cost optimization. The process of service distribution, improvement of consumer properties of products, reduction of operating costs are the tasks to be resolved for developing steady advantages in competitive situations. Leading experts ofAmadeus, Info-port, Nota Bena, PPP UDP, Bronni.ru, Megtek, SAMO-soft and others will share their experience in this field.
Online registration of professional visitors is open at the website of the exhibition www.mitt.ru. To visit the exhibition, it is necessary to fill in the form and print out a named electronic ticket to be exchanged later to the badge at the express registration desk.
As usual, the first two days of the exhibition, March 17 and 18, are Days of trade visitors. During these days the exhibition will be open for specialists of the tourist business only upon registration or presentation of an invitation ticket. The exhibition will be open for general public during the other two days.
Sponsors of MITT 2010 are:Greece, Atlantis Line Marine Cruises, Pegas Touristik, Lanta Tour Voyage, Danko, Pac Group, Gartour, TUI Russia, Lithuanian Tourist Office, Dominican Republic and Vogue Hotel Turkey.
Ekaterina Sviridova
PR Director, ITE
