The authorities of St. Petersburg held a presentation of tourist offers of the city in the United Arab Emirates.
The Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg held a presentation of the city’s tourism programs at the Dubai Hotel Dusit Thani as part of the Welcome to St. Petersburg! Road show.
Alexander Martynov, head of the department of regional and international projects in the Committee, said: “And before the World Cup, the city enjoyed well-deserved interest among tourists from the Middle East region. Now, after the Championship, the city in all its splendor hopes that tourists from the United Arab Emirates and the region will take advantage of all the opportunities that the city offers. "
This is not only about traditional tourism, but also about medical tourism, in which St. Petersburg is actively investing, as well as gastronomic tourism. Alexander Martynov emphasized that more and more hotels and restaurants are working every day to receive as many guests from the United Arab Emirates and Muslim countries as possible.
During the meeting, the issue of cooperation between the authorities of St. Petersburg and the Emirate side in terms of increasing the number of cruise tourists from the UAE was discussed. It was noted that there are many cruise routes that run through St. Petersburg, but originate from foreign cities - for example, from Helsinki. Tourists cannot actually visit the Russian city on their own, staying in it - they do not have a formal invitation and, accordingly, they cannot get a tourist visa. The authorities of St. Petersburg were invited to think about resolving this problem in cooperation with travel companies from the UAE.
This issue is especially relevant now, since in the season of 2019, the passenger port of St. Petersburg set the task of receiving 625 thousand passengers.
After the presentation of the tourism potential of St. Petersburg, representatives of travel companies from the Northern capital met with their colleagues from Dubai, having the opportunity to present their services during a direct dialogue and discuss options for possible cooperation.
Taking this opportunity, Marina Morozova, head of the Visit Russia National Tourism Office in the Middle East, informed the audience about the imminent opening of the Visit Saint Petersburg office in Dubai. The head of the new office, Harmik Singh, who was also present in the hall, specified that the official opening will take place on November 19, and expressed confidence that large-scale and multi-vector work will be launched from the first days of work, which should result in a multiple increase in tourist flow from the United Arab Emirates to the city on the Neva.
