Business reached out to the forums – Newspaper Kommersant No. 162 (7363) of 09/03/2022

The need to look for new partners and rebuild processes against the background of the crisis increases the interest of businesses in participating in business events. The trend contributed to a sharp increase in the popularity of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), the flow to which reached almost half of the volume of trips to SPIEF. At the same time, business demand for holding MICE events in hotels increased by 20% compared to the pre-crisis 2019. But it is not worth waiting for a full recovery of the segment due to the lack of offsite events and foreign organizers, market participants are sure.

Business interest in traveling to Vladivostok during the EEF-2022 has grown sharply: the number of hotel bookings has increased by 3.5 times year on year. Kommersant was told about this in the Raketa travel company, where they also note “positive dynamics” relative to 2019. According to the company’s estimates, the number of business trips to the EEF this year reaches 48% of the volume of business trips to SPIEF.

According to Aeroclub, the demand for organizing business trips to the EEF increased by 62% compared to 2021 and by 45% compared to 2019. Based on the number of booked air tickets, the flow to the EEF in 2019 was estimated at 18% of the volume of SPIEF guests, in 2021 – 22%, this year – 39%. But it should be taken into account that guests also get to St. Petersburg by rail, the Aeroclub notes. Vipservice speaks about the growth in demand for trips to Vladivostok by 63% by 2019. Aeroclub Managing Director Yulia Lipatova specifies that 41% of the guests at the WEF will come from the mining, manufacturing and energy industries, 34% from consulting companies, and 6% from the pharmaceutical industry.

The data of booking systems also indicate the growth of interest in Vladivostok. According to OneTwoTrip, tickets to the city during the forum this year are bought 75% more often than last year, and 40% more than in 2019. According to Yandex.Travel estimates, the number of flights to Vladivostok on WEF dates increased by 12% over the year. Mostly travelers arrive from Moscow, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk. The average trip duration is five days. Ostrovok.ru notes that the share of Vladivostok in the total volume of armor placement in Russia for the period September 5–11 has doubled from 2019–2021.

Raketa Marketing Director Daria Zubritskaya connects the increased interest in the WEF with the focus of Russian companies on development in the Asia-Pacific region and within the country. Head of the MICE Committee of the National Association of Event Organizers Tatyana Konakova notes that this fits into the general trend of increasing business demand for participation in corporate and business events. The situation is dictated by the crisis and the pressure of sanctions, which forces us to look for new markets, she believes. According to Ms. Konakova, all events related to sales and promotion are in demand.

The founder of Ivashkevich Hospitality, Stanislav Ivashkevich, also noticed an increase in business for MICE events: “The business season is just beginning, but according to existing applications, we see that it will be active.” According to him, the total number of events this year will be 20% higher than in autumn 2019.

Mr. Ivashkevich connects the revival with the withdrawal of foreign players from the market and the need for businesses to rebuild processes. This trend, according to his forecasts, will have a positive impact on the performance of the hotel business as a whole, despite the general desire of the organizers to reduce the budgets of MICE events.

But Galina Polishchuk, managing director of corporate business at Vipservice, doubts that the market will reach pre-crisis levels this year. “Outreach events have traditionally formed a significant share, now their number is limited,” she recalls. In addition, Ms. Polishchuk notes that many MICE activities within the country were organized by Russian representative offices of foreign companies, and it will not be possible to quickly replace them.

Alexandra Mertsalova