Moscow’s Otdikh & Leisure Fair Gathers over 2,000 Exhibitors from around the World

The 15th edition of the Otdikh & Leisure International Fair of Tourism is underway since this Tuesday at Krokus Expo fairgrounds in Moscow, with great expectations among businesspeople and executives from this sector.

The question of how far the world economic crisis can affect the leisure industry is present in each of the ongoing interviews and business exchanges among more than 2,000 exhibitors from all over the world.

Organized by the “Euroexpo Exhibitions & Congress Development GmbH (from Vienna), Euroexpo” (from Moscow) companies, sponsored by the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth, and Thailand as guest country, Leisure opens the important winter season for Russian tourism –precisely when national travelers decide to cross the borders looking for sun and beach or take advantage of the cold temperatures to have some rest and go skiing in the frozen mountains.

That’s the reason why, as many people say, this fair is established as the first event in this time of the year. What’s currently taking place in its halls and exhibition sites proves this right.

Some 30 national offices show their stands decked out with cultural allegories and sceneries which help potential travelers make up their minds. Stands from Latin America such as Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama friendly vie for their sun and beach offers.

National leaders and personalities from the sector have also arrived in here, such as the Cuban Deputy Vice Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo Morejon, who heads the island’s delegation and visited the 40-square meter Cuban stand, accompanied by Juan Valdes Figueroa, Cuba’s ambassador to Russia.
“Cuba is a fundamental destination for Russia in this time of the year and this is the most important event for us”, the Cuban tourism leader said to the media as he stated that in 2008 his country received 40,000 Russian visitors, though this year that figure could decrease as a result of the downturn.
The main hoteliers are represented in the Caribbean island’s stand, just like the international Iberostar, Sol Meliá, Occidental, Barceló, Sandals, NH Hoteles, among others, as well as Cuba’s Gran Caribe, Cubanacan, and the incoming companies Cubatur and Havanatur. It’s the first time the Paradiso group is represented, and it promotes a salsa event to be carried out next November.
Among the hundred exhibitors from the great host country, the company “Lanta-Tour Voyage” remains a permanent exponent in these Muscovite fairs”. Liudmila Puchkova, the event’s president, asserts that the turnout in Otdikh & Leisure “is like a huge benefit and feedback. Her company sponsors the “Discover a brand new travel product” program and it’ll introduce here its new project called “An eastern tale in the waves”.

Thus, amid the music, exchanges, the signing of contracts and hoping that the fair’s “much ado” would turn out to be “something” in the near future, the first working sessions have taken place in the modern Krokus Expo in Moscow, that has become for now the world’s travel center stage.