Programme

Tourism is a priority sector of the economy and a leading job creator. It contributes to the growth of entrepreneurial and investment activity and the development of service and hospitality infrastructure, improves people’s quality of life, broadens international cooperation, and plays an enormous role in building partnerships and mutual understanding between countries. When creating an effective system for the international promotion of tourism, it would make sense to establish a wide network of stable partnerships at all levels and create long-term partnerships that can offer new tourism products. The most effective way for Russia to promote its own tourism brand at international exhibitions is to utilize the opportunities of business missions for Russian tour operators, provide familiarization trips for foreign travel agents, as well as marketing and digital support for the project, and initiate discussions by including on the agenda of major domestic business forums. How can we successfully get businesses and regions involved in the programme to promote Russia’s tourism potential on foreign markets? Is an integrated approach essential to promoting tourism products on the international market? How can we best involve young people in coming up with new creative tourism offers and products? What technologies for the international promotion of the industry could help increase tourist flows to the region and the Russian Federation?

Moderator
Veronika Strizhak, TV Presenter, Izvestia; Member of the Academy of Russian Television

Veronika Strizhak

TV Presenter, Izvestia; Member of the Academy of Russian Television

Nika Strizhak: TV presenter, author and director of documentaries. Member of the Academy of Russian Television, member of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia. Awarded the order of Friendship and St. Petersburg’s supreme award – the commemorative token “For service St. Petersburg”. Lives and works in St. Petersburg. Graduated with distinction from the Philology Faculty at Leningrad State University. First joined Channel 5 in 1988 and has been working there permanently since 1993. For many years, his favourite genre was the talk show. For ten years, was author and presenter of the popular talk show Naobum, and then, for another ten years, head and presenter of the daily analytical talk show Open Studio (TEFI award 2014). Author of over 20 documentaries. Holds many awards from professional festivals and competitions.Since September 2013, head and presenter of the Sunday analytical programme “Most Important”.

Panellists
Hashil Obaid Hashil Al-Mahrouqi, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Tourism Development Company
Ali Babacan, Chairman, Democracy and Progress Party of the Republic of Turkey; Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Turkey
Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister Economic Development of the Russian Federation
Sergey Voronkov, General Director, ExpoForum International; President, Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs
Nana Gvichiya, Acting Chairman, Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg
Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of Leningrad Region
Mayya Lomidze, Executive Director, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR)
Yulia Maksutova, Director, Center for International Tourism Development, Center for Strategic Research Foundation
Alexander Medvedev, Chairman of the Board, Football Club Zenit
Yulia Mihaleva, Deputy Director, Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo)
Vladimir Rubtsov, General Director, FUN&SUN Touroperator
Lyubov Sovershaeva, Deputy Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District
Natalya Trunova, Auditor, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation
Georgy Filimonov, Acting Governor of the Vologda Region

Ali Babacan

Chairman, Democracy and Progress Party of the Republic of Turkey; Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Turkey

Dmitry Vakhrukov

Deputy Minister Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Sergey Voronkov

General Director, ExpoForum International; President, Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs

Born on 30 September 1965 in Orenburg.
Education:
Graduated from the Electromechanical Department at the Orenburg Polytechnical Institute, the Graduate School of the Moscow Youth Institute (Moscow University for the Humanities) (with a PhD in Economics), and the Higher School of Management at St. Petersburg State University (with an MBA).
Key work positions:
1990–1995 – Chairman of the Committee for Youth Affairs, Orenburg Municipal Administration.
1995–1998 – Head of the Innovation Department at the Committee for Family, Childhood and Youth Affairs, St. Petersburg Municipal Administration.
1998–2004 – Director for Commerce and Development, Petersburg-Express LLC.
2004–2006 – Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Press and Mass-Media Relations, St. Petersburg Municipal Administration.
2006–2011 – Director of Restec Group Enterprises.
2011–2013 – Executive Director of ExpoForum CJSC.
Since 20 September 2013 – CEO of ExpoForum International.

Alexander Drozdenko

Governor of Leningrad Region

Born on November 1, 1964 in the Dzhambul Region, Kazakhstan, Alexander Drozdenko graduated from Leningrad Agriculture Institute in 1986 with a degree in the economics and organization of agriculture. He obtained a PhD in Economics in 2007. Between 1988 and 2002, he worked in various positions in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. In November 2002, Alexander Drozdenko was invited to join the Government of the Leningrad Region and appointed as the Region’s Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Leningrad Region Committee on State Property Management. In May 2012, the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, on the recommendation of the President of the Russian Federation, elected Drozdenko as Governor of the Leningrad Region. He was inaugurated on May 28, 2012. On May 12, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the Early Termination of the Powers of the Governor of the Leningrad Region.” Alexander Drozdenko has been appointed acting Governor of the Leningrad Region. At the pre-term gubernatorial elections in Leningrad Oblast that took place on 13 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko received the majority of votes. On 30 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko took office as the Governor.

Mayya Lomidze

Executive Director, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR)

Co-chairman of the Expert Council on the implementation of the program for the promotion of tourist routes in the field of domestic and inbound tourism at the Federal Agency for Tourism. Maya Lomidze is a member of working groups of Government bodies, including the State Duma Committee on Tourism, the Public Council of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation
M.A.Lomidze regularly acts as a key expert in tourism and comments on all important events for the tourism industry for the media, including on leading TV channels, radio, electronic and printed publications.
Maya Lomidze is an important participant in international and Russian tourism exhibitions, conferences, seminars and other tourism events. She is invited to make presentations, be a speaker or moderator of the most important industry events.
Leading industry experts note her work on legislation in the field of tourism, her cooperation with federal and regional executive authorities in the field of tourism. Her active work in ATOR is highly appreciated by the management of the leading tour operator companies in Russia
In 2008, Maya Lomidze was awarded by the Federal Agency for Tourism with a Certificate of Honor "For fruitful cooperation and active support of state policy in the field of tourism".
In 2015, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation awarded Maya Lomidze the medal "Commonwealth in the Name of Salvation".
In 2017, Maya Lomidze was awarded the Gratitude Note of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation
In 2024, Maya Lomidze was awarded the title of Honorary Tourism Worker by the Government of Moscow

Yulia Maksutova

Director, Center for International Tourism Development, Center for Strategic Research Foundation

Alexander Medvedev

Chairman of the Board, Football Club Zenit

Alexander Medvedev was born on August 14, 1955 in Shakhtersk, Sakhalin Oblast.
Education
Alexander Medvedev graduated from Moscow Physics and Technology Institute majoring in Automated Control Systems.
He has a PhD in Economics.
Alexander Medvedev is a full-fledged member of the International Academy of Investment and Construction Economics.
Professional experience
1978–1989 Employee of the International Economic Relations Department of the Global Economy and International Relations Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences; later on – Senior Researcher, Acting Head of Sector, Academic Secretary of the Comprehensive Program for Sci-Tech Development of the USSR under the USSR Academy of Sciences and the State Committee for Science and Technology.
1989–1991 Director of Donau-Bank AG, Managing Director of Inter Trade Consult GmbH (Austria) branch.
1991–1996 Director of IMAG Investment Management & Advisory Group GmbH (Austria).
1997–1998 Vice President of Vostochnaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya (Eastern Oil Company).
1998–2002 Director of IMAG Investment Management & Advisory Group GmbH (Austria).
2002–2005 Member of the Management Committee of Gazprom, Director General of Gazexport.
2005–2008 Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; Director General of Gazexport (since November 1, 2006 – Gazprom export).
2008–2014 Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; Director General of Gazprom export; President – Chairman of the Kontinental Hockey League Executive Board.
2014 Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; President – Chairman of the Kontinental Hockey League Executive Board.
Since 2014 Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom.

Yulia Mihaleva

Deputy Director, Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo)

Vladimir Rubtsov

General Director, FUN&SUN Touroperator

Lyubov Sovershaeva

Deputy Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District

Natalya Trunova

Auditor, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation

Georgy Filimonov

Acting Governor of the Vologda Region

Front row participants
Marika Korotaeva, Co-Organizer, Project "Land of Forts"
Konstantin Makiev, Deputy Chairman of the Board for Operator Activities and Development of User Services, Russian Highways State Company
Pavel Shinsky, General Director, French-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Marika Korotaeva

Co-Organizer, Project "Land of Forts"

Konstantin Makiev

Deputy Chairman of the Board for Operator Activities and Development of User Services, Russian Highways State Company

Pavel Shinsky

General Director, French-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Pavel Shinsky was born in 1974 in Moscow.
Pavel is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Superieure (Fontenay-Saint-Cloud), specialising in the Russian language, as well as the political and cultural history of the Soviet Union.
1999 to 2007: research lecturer at different institutions of higher and secondary learning in France (Charles De Gaulle University – Lille III and Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne universities).
2003 to 2007: trained the top management of companies operating in Russia and/or conducted negotiations with Russian partners (preparing for talks, thematic research, simulation of various situations, etc.).
In charge of the Russian series Domain Rus at the Parisian publishing house Le Cherche-Midi éditeur, created in 2000.
Author of a dozen articles and two monographs (Stalin: Unpublished Archives 1926–1936 [1] published by Berg International in 2001 and Microhistory of Big Terror: the Factory of Guiltiness in Stalin’s Era [2] published by Denoël in 2005).
June 1, 2007: appointed Director General of the French-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI France Russie).
February 1, 2014: at the 12th Congress of Russian Chess Players, elected one of the five vice-presidents of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF).
October 15, 2015: in recognition of his efforts to strengthen economic relations between Russia and the West in general and France in particular, received a Letter of Appreciation from Russian President Vladimir Putin “for contributing to the socioeconomic development of the Russian Federation, successful labour, active public activities and many years of conscientious work” [3].
As Director of CCI France Russie, has spoken repeatedly against the sanctions imposed in 2014 in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis.
On the eve of voting at the National Assembly of France, which stood for the repeal of the sanctions, CCI France Russie personally requested each of the 577 deputies to support the given resolution.
The mission of CCI France Russie is to consolidate economic and trade relations between France and Russia by encouraging two-way investment flows, facilitating constructive dialogue and better understanding of the French and Russian realities.
May 25, 2016: the economics experts of CCI France Russie met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin to discuss the economic and trade ties between France and Russia.