The second stage of Russian Tourism Roadshow 2012 opened on April 16, 2012 in Paris, at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture, continuing a series of events organized by the Federal Agency for Tourism to promote the tourism potential of Russian regions.
The official opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Dmitry Mikheyev, Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in France Leonid Kadyshev, the representative of the Directorate of Engineering and Development ATOUT FRANCE Bernadette Ducret, head of the representative office of the Rossotrudnichestvo Agency in France Igor Shpynov.
"Today we will talk about various Russian regions. Most of them are not as well known as Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Golden Ring cities - said in his speech Dmitry Mikheyev. - It is unknown Russia to foreign guests yet, but it has truly enormous potential for the development of tourism. I am sure that soon you will learn about these areas as new brands. The federal program, amounting to 12 billion dollars of financing, launched last year to promote the tourism potential of Russian regions and create modern tourist infrastructure in them. On this occasion, I invite you to come to Russia and hope that our event will be useful and interesting to all those who now come to this hospitable house."
Bernadette Ducret presented the audience ATOUT FRANCE - national tourist operator, being a part of the Development Department of the Ministry of Economy of France. The organization has offices in 33 countries, including Russia, and having a great experience, is ready for commercial cooperation with Russian partners.
Head of the French representativeness of the Rossotrudnichestvo agency, director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Paris, Igor Shpynov in his welcome address highlighted the importance of the event: "It is extremely pleasant to host in our walls the Rosturizm - finally we came to hold it! I think this is the first step towards the creation of Russia tourist offices abroad. I wish colleagues in Rostourism success in creating an effective mechanism for cooperation in Europe. And you can always count on our support!"
At the end of the opening ceremony of the second stage of Russian Tourism Roadshow, head of BBC World News in Russia commercial representation Sergei Stanovkin continued moderating the event business program he started in Berlin. The sequence of speeches by representatives of the Russian regions, as well as their composition, has been changed somewhat in Paris.
The first spokesman was Vice-Governor of the Smolensk region Alexei Gurenko. And immediately a lively discussion struck up - questions to the speaker were posed from French tour operators and from the media as well. The former were interested in transport logistics - the best way to get to the Smolensk region, while the latter were interested in the marketing component of the regional tourism administration.
Looking ahead, it should be noted that most of questions were somehow connected with the possibilities of a more direct acquaintance with the Russian regions, whether adequate information in French or the organization of info-tours.
Alex Gurenko said in response that "we’ve just come in order to establish business contacts with foreign partners."
And everybody who spoke after him reported on specific occasions and informational tours and invited to their own region in conclusion.
Chairman of the Ryazan region Committee on Culture and Tourism Elena Tsareva, in particular, given the worldwide fame of Sergei Esenin, reported of forthcoming edition of the most popular of his works in French.
Like in Berlin heads of tourism administrations of Vladimir and Kostroma regions, spoke in the first session of the Paris stage of the Roadshow, and the final report was given by the representative of the Moscow Department of Environment Olga Ponomareva.
In subsequent sessions of the first day tourism opportunities of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Tatarstan and Yakutia, Krasnodar, Perm, and Altai territories, Samara and Arkhangelsk regions were presented.
On April 17 the Roadshow will continue in the form of visiting sessions.
Detailed information on the website: http://www.russiatourforum.com.