Rossi Business Tourism Agency

As a rule, business travel and business activities are not carried out by the enterprise itself, but by business tourism agencies, which in Russia bring together the Association of Business Tourism (ABT). Her Chairman Vadim Zelensky responded to questions from the WP.

Pick tourist season is kind of over, and you've got work to do with what it's got to do?

Pick seasons are different from conventional tourism: if it's summer and winter, it's almost a year round. As a result of last year, industry has shown excellent recovery rates since the crisis, corporations have significantly increased the travaux budgets. According to ABT participants, for 2010 the market on turnover and quantity of transactions has already been compared with pre-crisis levels. However, the situation in the industry cannot yet be described as uncovered - it is now in the interest of clients. Service charges have not yet reached pre-crisis levels and vary between 2 and 5 per cent.

Tell me more about what business tourism is and what it's different from normal.

One of the main differences is that business agency clients are usually not natural but legal persons. They also purchase travel, conference and exhibition services. We provide transport and accommodation for company personnel who are sent to business trips and various activities in Russia and abroad. All exhibitions in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities attract a large number of participants and visitors. Numerous delegates come to conferences, seminars, symposia - each of them needs a number, food and organized rest after the business.

If a corporate client wants to make an exhibition on his own, we're also helping him rent out exhibition spaces, set up an exhibition. On our own initiative, we usually do not organize exhibitions and conferences, but we can make an in-depth visit to enterprises for the team of specialists.