VEGA Hotel and Convention Center at ITB China: Supply, Demand and Special Requests
Hotel Complex Izmailovo located in the east of Moscow was built for the XXII Olympic Games held in Moscow in 1980. This includes 5 authentic properties named "Alpha", "Beta", "Delta", "Gamma" and "Vega" symbolizing 5 Olympic rings. With 5,000 rooms, Izmailovo remains the 8th largest cluster in Europe. After the USSR collapse in 1991 the complex was split up in different legal entities.
During ITB China 2024 Natalia Klimenok, PhD from Russian Travel Digest met Revenue and Distribution Director Konstantin Feklisov and Senior Key Account Manager Tatiana Abrameshina to talk about hotel functioning in current reality.
N.K. Izmailovo hotels are very well known on Russian and international markets since soviet times. Still now Vega hotel and Congress center seems to be one of the most popular one. What is the guests’ number or shares in this and previous years?
Here we can provide data for 2023 and for the 1st half of 2024 (01.01-06.15.2024). About 91 - 93% of the guests are from over Russia, 3% from CIS countries, 4 - 6% are guests from abroad.
In figures, the data for 2023: 176,000 guests from the regions of the Russian Federation, 7,700 guests from CIS countries, 5,300 guests from non – CIS countries. China is the leader among foreign guests.
N.K. Vega Hotel welcomes Chinese guests for many years. Do you see any changes in their requests comparing with e.g. 2000?
Basically, the portrait of Chinese guests has not changed if we are talking about the principles of travel. As before, Chinese tourists communicate mainly in Chinese and travel as part of a group, visiting 2-3 cities during one trip, selected for visiting by the tour operator according to a pre-prepared program. Chinese guests, unlike many other foreign guests now like tasting Russian cuisine. They often book dinners in Russian restaurants, tasting local specialties. They are still very fond of souvenir shopping. Groups of Chinese tourists buy amber, painted objects and handicrafts, vintage artifacts of the Soviet period in Izmailovo Kremlin, the largest permanent vernissage in Moscow, which is located within the walking distance from the Vega hotel.
To summarize the changes of Chinese guests, I would name the following:
1. All Chinese are actively using smartphones, including audio technologies for the translation.
2. It is important for them to have payment via WeChat (Vega Hotel is working on this at the moment)
3. For the generation of 35+ and younger, the trends and recommendations of Chinese bloggers are important, and in the future we plan to cooperate with bloggers from China.
4. The Chinese also come for cheap shopping of premium brands in Russia.
5. After COVID pandemic, the Chinese began to monitor hygiene during travel much more carefully. So, the availability of sanitizers in public areas, disposable masks for them remains an important requirement.
N.K. Are there any special requirements for tourists from different countries, how do you satisfy them?
The specifics of the service depend on the difference in cultures, religious affiliation, household and food habits of the guests.
Of course, we respond to these needs by hosting groups from other countries.
For example, for guests from India, we have updated the certification in the India Friendly program. Following the recommendations of this certification, we make the accommodation of guests from India more comfortable by providing the usual food for the living groups, as well as some attributes of their everyday life.
In July, we will also be accredited by Muslim Friendly program. Now we have halal dishes during buffet, but so far there is no prayer room equipped. We consider it important to obtain the appropriate certification and to provide the opportunities to lead the usual lifestyle.
N.K. After the beginning of a special military operation in February 2022, many organizers of international exhibitions banned the participation of Russian companies. How does Moscow Tourism Committee support you now?
We do not feel any ban. We detect a huge interest towards Russia from other countries with a much higher travelling population.
In addition Moscow Tourism Committee has not reduced its international activities either in 2022 or later on. Vega Hotel co-exhibited with Moscow Tourism Committee in OTM India 2022, BLTM India 2023, in visiting business missions to China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou), India (Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai), Iran (Tehran) and many other countries.
Vega Hotel participated in ITB China, ITB Asia, ITB India. These shows will lead to new productive contacts with local tour operators, so Moscow as a travel destination is getting more and more popular on the new markets.
Photo by VEGA Hotel and Convention Center
