The Moscow City Tourism Committee is ramping up efforts to deepen collaboration with India’s Outbound Tourism with special focus on the MICE sector.
Moscow is reinforcing its status as a premier destination for both leisure and business tourism, with India emerging as a key strategic partner. After 2020 India was among the leading non-CIS countries sending tourists to Moscow, a trend that continued robustly into 2024. The first half of 2024 saw a remarkable 1.5-fold increase in Indian travelers to Moscow compared to the same period in 2023, amounting to 28,500 visitors. This growth was driven primarily by the introduction of the e-visa system in August 2023, which made travel for Indian passport holders more accessible and boosted MICE traffic from India to Russia.
Mr. Evgeny Kozlov, First Deputy Head of the Office of the Mayor and the Government of Moscow, Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, “While most tourists visit Moscow for cultural, educational, and entertainment purposes, the city has also been focusing on expanding business tourism, which is now a significant contributor to the local economy. By 2030 the number of foreign tourists is expected to reach 6 million people, mainly due to travelers from the CIS countries, the Asia-Pacific region, India, the Middle East and other parts of the world. “
Moscow is all set to captivate audiences at the OTM International Tourism Exhibition in Mumbai from January 30 to February 1, 2025. Over three days, the Russian capital will present the best it can offer in cultural, leisure, and business tourism.
Ahead of the exhibition, on January 28, a Moscow Business Mission will bring together prominent Moscow tourism representatives and approximately 80 Indian tour operators and industry stakeholders. On January 29, a reception hosted by the Moscow City Tourism Committee will welcome Indian partners, with high-ranking officials in attendance, including Ivan Fetisov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Mumbai, Victor Gorelykh, the Director of the Russian House in Mumbai, and Evgeny Kozlov, Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee.
For Reference
The Moscow City Tourism Committee considers India as a priority market and regularly holds events and implements projects aimed at attracting tourists from the region: both leisure and MICE. Moscow participates in major exhibitions and shows in India (BLTM, SATTE, OTM, MILT Congress, etc.) and organizes business missions to build brand recognition, establish new business connections and receive valuable feedback from the market players.
The presentations of its touristic potential have been held in such cities as Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai and other cities. In April 2024, the Moscow government hosted the “Shaping MICE Future” conference in Delhi, engaging over 100 industry representatives. Additionally, the Moscow MICE Ambassadors program, launched in 2023 with the Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), certified 50 participants in its first year and expanded to certify 200 Indian professionals by November 2024. These initiatives have notably bolstered connections between Moscow and India’s event industry.
Recently, in December 2024, Moscow hosted the second Meet Global MICE Congress: BRICS Edition, attracting over 1,300 business tourism representatives from BRICS nations and the Global South.
