ENIT Moscow’s new offices were officially inaugurated at The World Trade Center building in Moscow in the presence of the Executive Director, Gianni Bastianelli, along with Irina Petrenko, Head of Marketing and Promotion for Russia and CIS Countries, to illustrate the promotional objectives of the Moscow office and the data of a market that is now in a decisive recovery.
According to Bankitalia data, from January to August this year (2017), 644,000 Russians traveled to Italy, recording an increase of 8.2% compared to 2016. Total spending, in the same period, amounted to 646 million euros, up 5%, with a 27% rise in tax-free shopping.
Growth is expected in the coming months thanks to new air connections between Russia and Italy. Flights at the start of December include a route between Moscow and Rome with flights from St. Petersburg to Turin and to Verona by S7 Airlines, in addition to a Moscow-Milan route by UTair. The summer of 2018 will see the launch of direct connections oby S7 Airlines from Moscow to Cagliari and Olbia, Sardinia Island.
At the same time as the inauguration of the new ENIT office, Moscow hosted the travel trade workshop, “Buongiorno, Italia!” hosted at the prestigious headquarters of the Zar Cano, opposite Red Square, which broke all records in terms of Italian sellers and Russian buyers.
Among the 90 companies from Italy invited by ENIT were tour operators, hoteliers, ski resorts and spas, associations, transport companies from various regions, some airports such as Rimini, and representatives of tourist offices of Sardinia, Puglia, Marche, and the province of Como. In terms of buyers, about 200 tourism professionals from Moscow and St. Petersburg participated, as well as companies from Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, selected by the Moscow Institute.
Also on this occasion, Bastianelli presented the Italian “conquests” on the Russian market, together with the Italian Consul General in Moscow, Francesco Forte; the Commercial Adviser of the Italian Embassy in Russia, Niccolò Fontana; and Katerina Aizerman, Deputy Director of the ATOR, the association of Russian tour operators.
