I REGION I EUROPE
I REGION I EUROPE IADVERTORIALTHE TOPTOURISMTRENDS INMOSCOWFOODIEDESTINATIONMoscow has become a gastronomy capital,a title that is backed up by its 13,000 cafes andrestaurants – twice more than it had 10 years ago– which offer a wide range of choices, with the newRussian cuisine the "stand-out option". Thousandsof tourists are attracted by the opening of newmarkets, such as Danilovski, Usachevsky and theCentral or DEPO, which is the biggest food mall inEurope. Located in the old tram station, it extendsover 11,000 square meters and has 75 restaurantsand 140 market stalls, with over 8 million visitorssince its grand opening in 2019.The floating bridge in Zaryadye Park, MoscowMillennials arechoosing MoscowAround 70% inbound tourists travelling toMoscow are under 34 years old– according to latest official surveysDIGITALISATIONOne of the key strategic directions of tourismdevelopment, digitalisation has prompted theMoscow City Tourism Committee to hold eventssuch as Moscow Travel Hack – the first large-scalehackathon in the travel industry in Russia aimedat boosting the number of tourists. In the firstedition, 50 teams worked for 30 hours to create10 solutions for Facebook, telecom companies, citymuseums, etcMoscow at nightMoscow satisfies all demands of the newgeneration. Numerous fests, cultural,entertainment, and sporting eventsalongside with the development of transportinfrastructure and new services make thecapital even more attractive for tourists – andespecially for millennials.As millennials increasinglyseek individualised tourism,they want up to the minuteinformation about uniqueaspects of a city, its historyand places of interest, andspecial itineraries with out ofthe ordinary things to see.CONVENIENCEA new digital platform,Russpass, are beingdeveloped for tourists visitingMoscow providing help withbooking everything fromflights to theatre tickets is dueto be launched this spring.Russpass will also providetourists with convenienttravel routes around the city,an extensive listing of thecity's attractions and adviceabout what's on.SUSTAINABILITYMoscow follows the globaltrend of sustainable tourism,in which the comfort ofresidents is given priority inthe development of the city.The approach is based onthe logic that residents andtourists use the same serviceseach day and therefore themore convenient the city isfor Muscovites, the moretourists it will attract.Under this model, tourismin the capital is developedto improve the quality of lifeof the residents themselves,making effective use ofthe existing infrastructure,services and human capital.The various projects thatare being implemented areaimed at decentralisingtourist flows, involving andsupporting local initiatives,and individualising tourism.Decentralization is regardedas useful for the city and itsresidents, because it reducesand redistributes the loadon the transport system andinfrastructure in a healthyway.Another example ofsustainability is that of S7Airlines, which, togetherwith Moscow Domodedovoairport, has begun sortingnon-food waste thataccumulates from on-boardfood packages during flights.About 20,000 snack boxesare now collected per dayfrom S7 Airlines flights,corresponding to about1.5 tonnes of waste. Thus,every month S7 Airlines andDomodedovo airport sendabout 45 tonnes of waste forprocessing30 ITB BERLIN NEWS 01 • WEDNESDAY 4 TH MARCH 2020www.itb-berlin-news.com
I REGION I EUROPE I7.3% rise ininternationalvisitors forGeorgiaThe small country with a bigheart offers an extraordinaryrange of tourism products© 2017 MostafamerajiIn 2019, the number of arrivals of international travellers in the territoryof Georgia was 7.7 million, 7.3% higher compared to the previous year,according to the country’s National Statistics Office. 66% of the visitorswere tourists.Most visitors were from the RussianFederation and Azerbaijan, with Armeniaand Turkey taking third and fourth places assource markets. A survey of visitors found thatover 90% of all inbound travellers were eithersatisfied or very satisfied with their visits.Georgia is a small country situated on thecrossroads of Europe and Asia. Tbilisi, thecapital of Georgia was founded in the fifthcentury, and amazing nature and the diversityThe Kura river, Georgiaof this country have been the sources ofinspiration for a large number of writers andpoets. The nation offers “everything that thetraveller can only dream about”: mountainsof eternal snow, mountain lakes, alpinemeadows, canyon rivers full of flowers andfruit, palm coasts, natural canyons, ancientcaves, mineral waters and sulphur waterpools.The history of Georgia is the history ofstruggling for freedom. Nearly all the largestempires in the world attempted to possessthis land. But after all, the Georgiansamazingly managed to survive and preservetheir independence. The nation boasts anumber of unique attractions, including itsdistinctive winemaking technology, calledQvevri, in which grape juice together with theseeds and skin are buried under the ground inclay vessels. Winemaking has been practicedin Georgia for over 8,000 years.The first human civilisation outside of Africahas been discovered in Georgia (the remainsof that settlement are 1.75 million years old),and the highest permanent settlementsIn Europe can also be found in Georgia’smountain regionsMaking a visit to Dubrovnika little easier…The Dubrovnik Tourist Board is promoting, among other things, the“Dubrovnik card”, as the “key that opens the doors to all of the topattractions of the cities of Dubrovnik and Cavtat and provides the cardholder with a number of discounts and significant savings in money”.The cards will come very much in handy tofacilitate touring the city, as news comes ofthe fact that total visits to Croatia's favouritecoastal town rose by 13% to 1.44 million in 2019,while total tourist overnights rose by 6% to4.4 million, according to the country's tourismministry. UK visitors topped the list, followedby those from the US, Germany, France, andSpain. The number of people who stayedin Dubrovnik hotels rose 18% year on yearto 815,000, while tourists who stayed in privateaccommodation numbered 480,000, up 10%.Depending on the length of stay in Dubrovnik,visitors can buy 3 types of Dubrovnikcards: 1-Day, 3-Day or 7-Day. The 1-DayDubrovnik Card is allows entry into 9 culturalhistoricalmonuments, the top attractions ofDubrovnik. The 3-Day and 7-Day DubrovnikCards allow entry into 10 culturalhistoricalmonuments, 9 top attractionsof Dubrovnik, and 1 museum in Cavtat. Bypurchasing a Dubrovnik Card, the holder alsogets a bus card valid throughout the city ofDubrovnikThe new Dubrovnik CardITB BERLIN NEWS 01 • WEDNESDAY 4 TH MARCH 2020 31
