The Russian MICE services industry: Turris Hotel Management Group's view

What is your assessment of today's Russian conference services market? 

Since the beginning of 2011, the demand for conference services has been gradually, though rather slowly, returning to its pre-crisis levels. This, however, has created a problem of shortage of conference rooms with seating capacities varying from 100 to 1,000 people, the most popularly demanded facilities in St. Petersburg’s hotels and business centers. This tendency stemmed from the fact that the overall business activity in the city has increased. Hotels, in contrast with other venues, have become the best places for hosting any events. This is because hotels do not only serve as venues for hosting various events, but also as places for accommodation, provision of catering and transportation services for conference participants. Regarding business services, one of our main advantages is the provision of special conference packages to clients. 

Who are your key MICE services clients? 

We are focused on long-term cooperation with our partners. Today, our clients include different companies from different business sectors: the State Hermitage Museum, TGC-1, Metrapolis, Merz Pharma, Oriflame, Gazprom, Perekrestok, Shell and several others. Taking into consideration the main market tendencies and MICE services consumers’ requirements, Turris  Management Company started the reconstruction of its 500-seating capacity conference room in the Baltiets and Burevestnik resort hotels, modernization of their infrastructure, improvement of service quality, installation of hi-tech equipment, etc. Today, we invite everyone, who plans to host different business events, to come and do so in our top quality hotel conference rooms with seating capacities varying from 10 to 250 people. 

“We offer our clients various and creative options for organizing and hosting business events in St. Petersburg, Leningrad Region and Finland.”

What complementary services can Turris hotels offer to clients? 

We offer various and creative options for organizing and hosting business events in St. Petersburg, Leningrad Region and Finland. In addition to organizing conferences with all the necessary components, hosting business activities for conference participants also envisages the provision of coffee breaks, welcome cocktails, business lunches and dinners, receptions and banquets. Besides, in our resort hotels, we organize interesting entertainment and health-improvement recreational activities in full compliance with special corporate programs. Our hotels have all the necessary facilities to offer such services as swimming pools, saunas, gym, aerobics rooms, as well as fully equipped playing grounds for tennis, football, basketball, volleyball, paintball, etc.

In conclusion, what are your forecasts on the future of this industry in Russia, going forward? 

Our position is that if the economic situation will remain stable in Russia, the ongoing dynamic growth of the MICE services market will continue. Clearly, in this case, and with the increasing competition, the companies will start offering lots of innovations as well as more attractive prices and interesting offers packages for loyal customers and for attracting new ones. Understanding and conformity to the latest market development trends will become the key aspects for achieving success in this industry. Indeed, it is with this view in mind that the Turris Hotel Management Group started the modernization of its conference rooms.