Delegates from the Moscow City Tourism Committee were present at the conference
The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has announced that it will hold its 6th Annual Convention in Moscow in Russia from July 10-13.
The announcement about the convention was made by Himanshu Patil, President, OTOAI, at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, where its officials shared details about the upcoming convention, focussing the convention on increasing Indian travel numbers to Moscow for MICE, leisure and celebrations segment. Delegates from the Moscow City Tourism Committee were also present at the conference.
Himanshu Patil
In his address, Patil said that the convention aimed to boost Indian traveller numbers to Moscow, highlight its diverse offerings to Indian outbound market with a focus on MICE tourism and establish a perception of Moscow as a safe and vibrant destination for Indians.
“Moscow is a friendly place to be in. Very safe. We have been there twice and it is really safe to travel there. In terms of the number of OTOAI delegates for the Convention, we are targetting about 180 delegates and I think we will achieve the target,’’ Patil tells India Outbound.
Delegates of Moscow City Tourism Committee underlined the importance of the Indian market and said that they expect the Convention to significantly boost the number of Indian visitors to Moscow.
Anastasia Popova
“India is a very important for us. It is in top three markets for us. In 2024 we had about 85,000 tourists from India and we understand that it is not enough and we want much more. We are ready for much more tourists from India. So we do a lot of things to attract tourists from India. And here I speak about roadshows, about FAM trips, about promotion campaigns,” Anastasia Popova, Head of Business Tourism Development Department, Moscow City Tourism Committee, tells India Outbound.
“OTOAI Convention is very important for us as well. Because tour operators will see, actually, that Moscow is very nice. And they can then tell to the tourists that Moscow is really safe and is ready for them,” she adds.
At the conference, Shravan Bhalla, Vice President, OTOAI, who is also Convention Chairman, said that the three-day event will be followed by a post-FAM trip to Saint Petersburg for all delegates.
“Moscow a vibrant city. What we saw in Moscow was everything for what Indian travellers look for. Very good destination for MICE, very good destination for luxury segments, honeymooners, for smaller family groups, FITs. So you name it, then they have all those things, lovely sightseeing. They have the Kremlin, Red Square, beautiful place. We always look for something out of the box destination, which needs little bit of a boost and then we are on it. So it took almost one and a half years for us to finalise this because this all started in the early 2024 with our meetings with Moscow City Tourism Committee,” Bhalla tells India Outbound.
Shravan Bhalla
On the occasion, an MoU about the convention was also signed by Popova and Bhalla.
OTOAI said that it has prepared an attractive package for the OTOAI delegates who would be attending the Convention. The cost for attending the Convention in Moscow and a post-event FAM trip to Saint Petersburg starts at INR 79,999, for Active Members of OTOAI.
The OTOAI team adds that the venue of the Convention will be Carlton Hotel, Moscow with Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot, is the partner airline.
The OTOAI delegates said that registration for the Convention will shortly be available on OTOAI website and a detailed programme will be also shared soon.
Regarding the outcome of the previous Convention of OTOAI that was held in Kenyan capital Nairobi in July 2024, Bhalla says that the Convention had led to a sharp rise in bookings by Indian travellers for Kenya.
“After the Convention, we saw a big increase in numbers in Kenya, especially with the Sarova Hotels. They were already sold out for the next few months with Indian
Monia Kapoor
clients. In addition, we also saw an increase in number of flights from India to Kenya and visa challenges were also resolved. And they were happy, we were happy and the movement of passengers from India to Kenya is still on,” says Bhalla.
Monia Kapoor, Joint Secretary, OTOAI tells India Outbound that as a team, OTOAI is always focused on looking for new destinations which have not been in the key eye of the tourism industry. “Moscow is one of them, not many agents know quite well about Russia. This convention will open up the key points on the ease of travel to Russia, the ease of visa. And how everything can be arranged internally. So, we are really looking forward to the prospects of giving our members that edge of discovering how they can promote new destination to their clients,” Kapoor adds.
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