…engages travel agents in Dubai, Abu Dhabi

The roadshow from St. Petersburg in Abu Dhabi, which commenced with feverish excitement, included one on one B2B sessions where the travel trade spent time and got to know the destination, followed by detailed presentations by partners. The roadshow concluded with a gala dinner to the accompaniment of authentic St. Petersburg entertainment, including a ballet performance.

Ksenia Narvatkina, Chief Specialist, Development Department, St. Petersburg City Tourist Information Bureau, and Committee for Tourism Development, Saint Petersburg, in her presentation, shared they were excited to showcase the offerings of St. Petersburg. She reiterated the goal was to promote the potential of St. Petersburg as a world tourist centre, and to develop partnerships between St. Petersburg tourism enterprises and representatives of tour operators and travel agencies in Dubai. She said entry into the destination is free with COVID-19 cases having subsided. Currently, only a negative PCR test 72-hour before Áying into the country is required. A plus point for other nationals, especially UAE travellers, is they will get a visa on arrival. Formalities to enter the country as a tourist also not cumbersome; in face they are quite easy.

The videos and performances at the event took the audience back to St. Petersburg for a short while. Travel trade agents, present at the event, shared it was a great opportunity to meet with partners on one platform. Different DMCs made tailor-made programmes for the guests from the GCC region. It was a great initiative.

St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful and largely populated cities in the world, which travelers from all over the world come to see. The list of attractions in St. Petersburg is so impressive that it is impossible to describe all of them in detail. According to statistics, in pre-pandemic times, the number of tourists in St. Petersburg reached 10 million people. And even more than 10 million!

Sergei Azarenkov, General Director, St. Petersburg Convention Bureau, Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg, said, “COVID had a strong impact on tourism for us. We have collected at the roadshow to invite tourists to visit our beautiful city. We look forward to welcoming them. Our objective is to unite tour operators in our country with GCC travel agents so that we can recover faster in this sector and move forward.”

Natalia Savinova, COO, Grand Rus Tours, said, “For the past 16 years, I have been running my own company and we provide tailor-made services to Russia, including St. Petersburg and Moscow. A traveler can Áy with Emirates, Áydubai and Etihad Airways to St. Petersburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Apart from Àve-star properties, there are many halal restaurants.”

Maria Ushakova, CEO, Art Travel, said, “It was an opportunity to introduce our company to the GCC clients. We connected with partners about different hotel accommodation facilities. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, payments could be a challenge. But for this, we have set up a different gateway by way of establishing our own company away from Russia.”

Mingaleyeva Dinara - Senior Fleet Manager - from Astra Marine shipping shared, “We have been working in St.Petersburg since 1994, we provide tours in different areas in boats or small crafts within the city. We also cater to MICE and events as well. We have a variety of boats that can cater to seven people up to 140 plus people. Hydrofoil is a new type that is very cool, as you can pass under the draw bridge when it opens which is a very exciting experience.”

Mahesh Perera, Travel Consultant, BCD Travels, Abu Dhabi, said, “After COVID effect reduced, although we held a few events, but the roadshow in Abu Dhabi was a well organised one. It was interesting to meet many partners, including cruise partners, this evening at the St.Petersburg roadshow. For travel agents in Abu Dhabi, it was an interactive event, which enabled us to meet many partners.”

Kumar Jiandani, Business Development Manager, Over Seas Travel, Abu Dhabi, a travel agency which handles 28 corporates in GCC, shared, “This is the Àrst time I saw St. Petersburg Tourism come to the UAE market. They provided us with the information relevant to the travelers, which we shared with our clients. We hope to build on the relationship with St. Petersburg Tourism. The city is a good destination for UAE travelers with so many interesting places to visit in St. Petersburg.”

Absar Ahmed Siddiqui, Senior Manager, Orient Travels, Abu Dhabi, said, “We are looking forward to their presentations and I must say they did a great job. The DMCs representing St. Petersburg showcased what they can offer, and I am sure it will create many opportunities for travelers to visit St. Petersburg.”

Maz SaÀ from Azar Tours and Travel, Abu Dhabi, said, “The arrangement is good at the St. Petersburg Tourism roadshow. We met many suppliers from DMCs to hotels and cruises, they shared with us so much information about the attractions. We came here as we conduct group activities for travelers, so we wanted to Ànd out more information about hotels and sightseeing among others. It was a well organised event and was helpful for us.”

Ashish Paul, Travel Consultant, Mercator Travel and Tourism, said, “It was great that to connect with St. Petersburg Tourism during the roadshow, and we met a lot of different partners/suppliers from the destination.”

Noufal Charan, Operations Manager, International Vision Travel—an Abu Dhabi-based semi government travel company—shared, “We normally conduct many here in Abu Dhabi as well as abroad. I am happy to be part of this event. It has been quite a long time since we had a roadshow in Abu Dhabi. It was good to get to know what is happening in Russia and that places for tourism are now open. We also met many suppliers on one platform.”

Rashida Ginwala, Director of Holidays Bin Ham Travel Abu Dhabi, said, “It was a good move from St. Petersburg Tourism. It is time to create awareness send travelers from UAE to see the attractions of St. Petersburg. It was great to meet so many partners in person and to be able to see, Àrst-hand, what new attractions or activities are taking place there. The event provided us an opportunity to regain the conÀdence that we can send UAE travelers to Russia. It was great to meet every partner from St. Petersburg, each of them had their own USPs. It was also great to meet the hoteliers as it is important to know where the UAE travelers will be able to stay once they go to St Petersburg to view the attractions.” with all offers and options.”

Travel trade agents, present at the Abu Dhabi event, shared it was a great opportunity to meet with partners on one platform

Dinesh Nair, Nirvana Travel Abu Dhabi, said, “It was an interesting and informative event as I was able to get contacts of many partners who attended the event. This was very important to meet them face to face in one platform. They provided us comprehensive product knowledge and shared about their new products and services on offer, especially to visitors from Abu Dhabi. As they get visa on arrival, the destination attracts the UAE nationals, the. There are many events coming up and it will be good to work together with St. Petersburg Tourism partners.”