“MICE Moscow“, the first MICE conference & workshop on the Russian market, took place one day before the well established tourism trade fair “Otdykh-Leisure”.

112 participants from 31 countries and more than 400 trade visitors attended MICE Moscow. The event was such a success that the Viennese organiser MSI Fairs & Exhibitions decided to organise an exhibition alongside the conference next year.

MICE Moscow 2006, the International Trade Fair for Business Travel, will take place from 19 – 21 September simultaneously with the 12 th edition of “Otdykh-Leisure”.

At the same time, another new trade fair will be launched: "Luxury Leisure“, the first International Trade Fair for Luxury Travel is dedicated to topics like Luxury destinations, Luxury yachts and transport, luxury spa resorts and many others.

Together, the three specialised tourism trade fairs (Otdykh-Leisure, MICE Moscow and Luxury Leisure) will move to a new venue: They will take place at the International Exhibition Centre “Crocus Expo” in Moscow. Crocus Expo is Russia's newest and biggest state-of-the-art exhibition venue.

Renowned international associations and MICE corporations attended MICE Moscow. Among them were: ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association), MPI (Meeting Professionals International), SITE (Society of Incentive & Travel Executives) and RCT (Russian Union of Tourist Industry Enterprises).

MICE Moscow consisted of an international educational conference and a sales orientated workshop. During the conference, international key players and Russian MICE specialists had the opportunity to exchange know-how.

Among the conference participants were well-known experts like: Didier Scaillet (MPI), Tom Hulton (ICCA, IMEX, Meeting Venues), Carolyn Dow (Dow Consultancy, SITE), Lutz B. Vogt (GCB) and Fabien Dutriaux (Grimaldi Forum).

The workshop allowed efficient networking in order to get to know potential business partners and to make useful contacts.

Among the many visitors of MICE Moscow were corporate buyers like Anderssen, I.S.P.A.-Engineering, Shreya Lifesciences, Verysell, World Class Vneshtorgbank, Globus Telecom, Russian Business Club (Meetings-Organiser of Moscow's Kremlin), “Spartak” Club, Econica Corporation, Protek, and Transneft.

“We decided to organise MICE Moscow because of the booming MICE market in Russia. A few years ago, MICE was negligible in Russia “, explains Kristof Szymoniuk, Executive Director of the MICE Moscow Organiser MSI Fairs & Exhibitions.

The number of business trips out of Russia rose by 50% from 1998 to 2001. Current statistics show that every year, 19 million Russians go on a business trip. This number proves the enormous potential for international MICE companies.

Russia is also improving the infrastructure for the national MICE market, which makes international experts and international know-how highly demanded.

Apart from booming tourism shows, the international conference and trade fair organiser MSI Fairs & Exhibitions (head office in Vienna, offices in Moscow, Kiev and St. Petersburg) is also satisfied with the development of other MSI exhibitions in Russia and the CIS. MSI has been organising trade fairs for more than 10 years.

Other industries covered are: Heating & sanitation, Machines & tools, pharmaceutical products, Oil, Gas and Real estate. MSI is a member of ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association) and UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry).

"It is our top priority to offer national and international experts a professional platform which they can use to push their business success”, says Kristof Szymoniuk about the philosophy of MSI Fairs & Exhibitions.

This strategy seems right: Since 1993, MSI has organised more than 100 trade fairs, attracting 20,000 exhibitors and welcoming more than 1 million visitors.