Dates of upcoming Otdykh Leisure Fair are announced

Following the success of the 2019 event, the dates for the upcoming Otdykh Leisure fair 2020 have been announced. Next year’s highly anticipated three-day event will take place at the Expocentre in Moscow from the 8th – 10th of September 2020.  Early bird booking rates are on limited release until the 31st December 2019.  

Despite having fluctuated in recent years, from 2016 to 2017 Russian outbound tourism increased by an impressive 25%, rising a further 5.8% in 2018. With a population of almost 145 million, and given its key positioning between Europe and Asia, Russia is a primary player in the global travel industry with huge potential for companies providing travel-related services.  Russians also reportedly spend on average 42% more per person, per foreign holiday than their European counterparts. In 2018 Russia placed 8th on an UNTWO report which ranked countries by their contribution to outbound tourism. Russia’s total spending amounted to $31.1 billion USD, up almost 30% from the previous year. These statistics point to a flourishing trend in Russian outbound travel, and well as lucrative opportunities for companies looking to harness the Russian market.  

The Otdykh Leisure fair of 2020 will see the return of the many spectacular business networking events of the 2019 edition. The 2019 event welcomed almost 15,000 industry experts with 600 exhibitors from 35 countries and 41 Russian regions.  Highlights of the expo included a series of exclusive B2B marketing events for exhibitors, such as roundtable meetings between leading Russian tour operators and international organisations. Other features included a sales-call service, expert workshops and the B2B Speed Dating service which facilitated one-on-one meetings at exhibitors’ stands.  The highly popular Hosted Buyer program will also be making a comeback in 2020, establishing hundreds of meetings between high-level buyers, tour operators and travel agencies.  The Business Program in 2019 comprised of 45 business events with over 150 speakers and almost 2,700 participants, and will be a winning feature of the upcoming expo when the Otdykh Leisure fair returns on September 8th 2020.