Congress- a congress, a meeting of a wide composition (usually of an international character). Congress tourism- trips and activities related to the organization of congresses, conferences, symposiums, seminars, etc. In the tourist classification, congress tourism is a special type of business and exhibition tourism. In addition to organizing and holding conferences and seminars, congress tourism includes the reception of delegations, working groups, professional and other visitors, as well as the provision additional services on nutrition, accommodation, organization of a cultural program.

It is necessary to single out congress tourism in a small subsection because the organization of congress events, which has much in common with the organization exhibition activities, imposes somewhat different requirements on the infrastructure and organizers. Congress events are smaller in scale than exhibition events. In terms of profitability, they are inferior to exhibitions, since they are designed for a smaller number of participants. However, unlike exhibitions, congresses, especially international congresses, focus on exclusive service, thereby ensuring that the best hotels in the city are occupied.

The centers of congress tourism are cities that meet the following requirements: favorable geographical position, convenient transport links, high quality hospitality industry, meeting space availability, leadership or significance in some way human activity(science, culture, business, etc.), architectural attractiveness, the presence of sightseeing objects in the city itself or near it. As a rule, large cities (often capitals) meet such conditions, which is why they have become the most important centers for holding congresses.

About 80% of congress events are in Western Europe and North America. The first three positions in terms of the number of international symposiums and meetings are firmly held by the USA, France and Great Britain. Well-known congress tourism centers are: Amsterdam, Brussels (capital of the European Community), Washington, Vienna, Geneva, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Paris, Davos (economic forum, Switzerland). The economic development of the Asia-Pacific region led to the holding of international meetings in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok. In recent years, according to international experts, Sydney (Australia) has been recognized as the best place for congress events.

As a rule, well-to-do people participate in congress tourism, so the income from one tourist is 2-3 times higher compared to the average tourist.

Congress tourism has one distinguishing feature– it must have a large corporate customer: the government, individual ministries, large corporations and holdings.

The one-time number of participants in the USA and Asia can reach 2 thousand or more, in Europe, on average, about 300 people. Congress initiators: companies and enterprises (55%), associations, federations and public organizations (45%), others - 5%. Main customers: pharmaceutical and automotive industries, financial, insurance, computer structures. The average duration is 2 days, which, taking into account the road and the cultural program, increases the stay of tourists in the country or city up to 4–5 days. The main period of the event is the season of falling mass recreational tourist demand (off-season), so it is of great importance for smoothing seasonality.

Congress tourism is important for hotels for several reasons:

Congress participants not only pay for accommodation, but also actively use the services of laundry, garage, restaurant, bars, casinos, sports complexes contributing to the income of the hotel.

Congress delegates are most often accommodated in hotels with their spouses, who do not participate in meetings, but actively get acquainted with the city and its sights. This increases the income of shops, beauty salons, sports clubs and venues, which has a positive effect on the reputation of the hotel as a whole.

People traveling for business purposes, participating in conferences and exhibitions, are mainly accommodated in hotels and impose certain requirements on them, thereby forming a specific market segment. These requirements include:

Provision of services for the organization and holding of various events in the field of business tourism;

Provision of rooms for negotiations and meetings;

Provision of services of conference rooms and congress halls;

Provision of business center services;

Provision of interpreter services;

Provision of technical and other equipment for events;

Express statements for event participants;

Visa support;

Rent technical equipment for events;

Organization of banquet services during events (coffee breaks, business lunches, receptions, etc.);

Organization of breakfasts and business lunches (provision of buffet or customized menu services) for event participants.

Therefore, hotels should be specialized, capable of ensuring the effective activity of business tourists, providing a complex of all necessary services provide comfortable conditions for the performance of official duties.

Also, business hotels must include wellness facilities. People who spend a lot of time during the day at conferences and stay in restaurants during business lunches and dinners demand that wellness centers and sports grounds for unloading be appropriately equipped in hotels. Hotels, in turn, offer the services of a swimming pool, sauna, massage rooms, gyms, a fitness center, etc.

Equipment and equipment of the conference hall, congress hall and other premises for negotiations and business meetings should provide comfortable conditions for events and business meetings, provide an opportunity for interactive work with the audience of participants, provide simple and quick installation or dismantling of equipment if necessary, provide for the organization of video and photo support for events, additional security of events (if necessary).

The conference hall / congress hall in the accommodation facilities must be equipped with:

Necessary furniture (tables / seats for the presidium, chairs / armchairs, tables, tribune, additional stands, stands, partitions that allow you to change the configuration of the hall, etc.), providing comfort and ease of use;

Technical means and equipment that make it possible to amplify speech and audio sources, display high-resolution information in an appropriate quality for listeners and viewers, speakers and speakers independently manage presentations, graphic materials, hold conferences, meetings, meetings with simultaneous translation, organize videoconferencing sessions and teleconferences , to document events and create an electronic archive of events, to organize the viewing of films and videos with support for modern sound formats (multi-channel sound).

A hotel for a business traveler is not just a place of rest and accommodation, but also a place of work. Therefore, the room should at least have a comfortable desk for work, good lighting, high-quality mobile communications and the Internet, office supplies, wires and adapters, the right number of sockets, the ability to quickly scan and send documents. Availability a wide range accommodation facilities and a diverse range of services contributes not only to meeting any needs of a business tourist, but also to providing a high level of service.

14.

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Convention and exhibition tourism is understood as activities related to the organization of congresses, exhibitions, fairs, conferences and other events. According to WTO statistics, the share of congress and exhibition tourism in the total business trips is 10-12%

Congress tourism has one distinctive feature - it must have a large corporate customer: the government, individual ministries, large corporations and holdings. Events organized at the government level or with the support of government circles can greatly increase their attractiveness, and hence the load factor of accommodation facilities. Therefore, many congress organizers are trying to enlist the support of government circles to attract various kinds of international meetings to their territory.

The time of activation of congress tourism falls on autumn. Countries that focus on recreational tourism, such as Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, have a developed hotel network designed for multimillion-dollar tourist flows. During the period of decline in the activity of recreational tourism, there are big problems with the loading of the hotel base. Therefore, these countries are guided by the organization of large-scale congresses and conferences in the autumn.

An important condition for attracting participants to congress and exhibition events is the degree economic development countries and especially the level of development of new technologies, transport infrastructure, communications, hotel facilities. Participation in the exhibition is a costly event, taking into account the cost of space, transportation of equipment, business trips for stand attendants and other expenses, therefore, a positive decision in favor of choosing a specific offer is made after a preliminary analysis of the benefits that such an event can provide. Such benefits include access to new market with high consumer potential, establishing relationships with new profitable partners, promoting the company's product in a new market. congress exhibition tourism

Geography of congress and exhibition tourism. The most dynamic segment of the business travel market is congress and exhibition tourism. There is a growing interest in conferences, meetings, seminars, as well as exhibitions and fairs around the world. Businessmen and scientists take part in forums to get the latest information, meet colleagues and exchange opinions with them, negotiate, escape from the usual environment and join the proposed cultural program.

Despite the continued growth in popularity of the Asia-Pacific destination, the bulk of the congress tourism market falls on Europe (80%), where the best professional staff are concentrated, there is a rich tradition of holding these events.

If in the 30s of the XX century. annually held about 200 international conferences, then in the 90s the number of congress events exceeded 8 thousand per year. Most of them, about 80%, are in Western Europe and North America. The USA, France and Great Britain hold the first three positions in terms of the number of international symposiums and meetings, Germany, which occupies the fourth place, is known for its exhibitions and fairs. Their popularity is explained by favorable conditions in many industries of this country, increased demand for investment goods and developed infrastructure.

Germany received the right to hold the last, final World Exhibition of the second millennium. "Expo-2000" opened on June 1, 2000 in Hannover - a well-known congress and exhibition center. It featured 189 countries in 53 pavilions covering an area of ​​170 hectares. "Expo" is not an exhibition in the traditional sense. According to its organizers, this is a huge open-air theater. The main part of the square was occupied by an exposition on the theme "Humanity-Nature-Technology". Thanks to the imagination and creativity of its participants, visitors were able to travel through space and time, immerse themselves in virtual worlds. The days of the "Expo-2000" were full of cultural and sporting events.

The largest centers of congress and exhibition activities in Europe and America are Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Brussels, Washington, Vienna, Geneva, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, as well as Paris and Strasbourg. Every year government and business people gather in Davos (Switzerland), where forums on topical issues development of the world economy. These cities have an appropriate material and technical base and have ample opportunities for organizing leisure activities for foreign guests.

Conferences are held in congress centers, hotels, theaters and concert halls, universities and other educational institutions. In the 1980s, when there was a tendency for congress and exhibition activities to converge, the American model of the convention center arose and became widespread.

These specially built buildings consist of large halls that can be used for exhibitions and at the same time designed to receive conference participants. In recent years, international events are increasingly being held in buildings with historical meaning, in castles and unconventional buildings. Congresses on board ships are popular.

Specialized tourist exhibitions and exchanges deserve special consideration. They have been held for 30 years and are of particular importance for the promotion of the tourism product. Their number is steadily increasing.

Over 200 international tourism exhibitions and exchanges are organized annually in Europe alone. The largest is the International Tourism Exchange (International Tourismus Borse, ITB), which takes place in Berlin. In 1998, more than 7 thousand exhibitors from 188 countries of the world took part in it. The exhibition complex "Messe-Berlin" hosted both modest stands of newcomers - Armenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan - and huge pavilions of world leaders in the tourism market - Germany, USA, France, Spain. During the five days of the exchange's operation, it was visited by 55,000 tourism industry specialists and numerous travel enthusiasts.

The already traditional international competition tourist films. In 1995, 27 films from 15 countries participated in it.

Evidence of the international recognition of the Berlin Stock Exchange is the participation in its official events of prominent political and public figures. In 1996, when the stock exchange celebrated its 30th anniversary, it was opened by German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and in 1998 by WTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli.

Every year at the end of January - beginning of February, the International Tourism Exhibition-Exchange FITUR (FITUR) is held in Madrid. The Madrid Stock Exchange holds a special place in the calendar of international tourism events.

Passing at the beginning of the year, it determines price and other trends in the tourism market in the new season. According to the attention that specialists and the public pay to expositions different countries, we can judge the redistribution of tourist flows, the development of certain tourism centers.

FITYUR is an inspection primarily of Spanish and Latin American tourist products. All areas of Spain are usually colorfully represented on the stock exchange. A quarter of the exhibition area is occupied by the stands of the countries of Central and South America (Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Grenada, Jamaica, Honduras, etc.).

Considering the links that traditionally exist between Spain and Latin American countries, FITUR is called "the bridge between Europe and America". Tourist firms from the countries of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, from the USA and Canada, where holidays in Spain are invariably in demand among the population, also take part in the exhibition.

Every year in mid-November, the attention of the tourism industry and the public around the world is riveted to London. It hosts the World Travel Market (WTM). This prestigious, purely professional exhibition is designed to establish direct contacts between specialists from different countries. Members of the world's largest professional tourist club "Meridian" take part in its work.

The international tourist exchange in Milan is known far beyond the borders of Italy. In terms of the number of exhibitors, it competes with the Madrid and London stock exchanges, and in terms of stand area it is second only to the Berlin fair. In 1998, more than 5,000 tourist firms and organizations offered their product to professional visitors and travel lovers in one of the largest exhibition complexes in Europe, Milan's Fiera.

Within the framework of this exhibition, various thematic programs are held annually, new projects and tourism products are announced, presentations are arranged the latest technologies in tourism. The popularity of the Milan stock exchange is steadily increasing. Suffice it to say that the booking of exhibition space begins a year in advance, on the days of the previous fair.

Moscow has recently entered the top five largest tourist fairs. international exhibition"Travel and Tourism" (MITT). In 2000, it was held for the seventh time.

The exhibition movement is gaining momentum all over the world. The number of exhibitions and fairs is increasing, their geography and circle of participants are expanding, and the focus is becoming more diverse.

Currently, specialized exhibitions of the hotel and restaurant industry, sports, ecological, educational and congress tourism, fairs of tourist and sports equipment, etc. are being held. Behind short term this segment tourist market became one of the largest and most stable.

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As a rule, seminars and congresses are timed to coincide with the work of exhibitions, so it is difficult to distinguish between seminars, exhibitions and congresses.

Congress(from lat. congressus- meeting, meeting) - a congress, a meeting of a wide composition (usually of an international character).

Congress tourism– trips and activities related to the organization of congresses, conferences, symposiums, seminars, etc. Congress events have a qualified and demanding composition of participants. Focus on exclusive service. The one-time number of participants in the USA and Asia can reach 2 thousand or more, in Europe, on average, about 300 people. Congress initiators: companies and enterprises (55%), associations, federations and public organizations (45%), others - 5%. Main customers: pharmaceutical and automotive industries, financial, insurance, computer structures. The average duration is 2 days. The main period of the event is the season of falling mass recreational tourist demand (off-season).

Exhibition- an event with a demonstration of the achievements of science, technology, culture, art, etc. Exhibitions differ in themes, advertised products. Many of them have a long history. For many centuries, exhibitions have been considered one of the most effective tools for successful business. As an event where personal contacts are established, the exhibition serves to achieve many business goals. The exhibition is a cost-effective means of communication with real and potential clients- at the same time and in the same place.

Exhibition tourism– travel and activities related to the organization of exhibitions, fairs, stock exchanges, etc.

The main functions of the exhibition:

1) direct communication with consumers. Trade shows are a great place to connect with new clients. Equally important, the exhibitions allow you to maintain and resume work with already existing clients;

2) presentation of new goods and services. The presentations and demonstrations that visitors will see with their own eyes speak for themselves - thanks to them, sales are significantly stimulated;

3) holding marketing communications. The exhibition focuses media attention on exhibiting companies and their products. In order to improve the image of the company and its brands, public relations work can be actively used during the exhibition.

The world exhibition elite realized the need for mutual penetration of the exhibition and congress business and, when creating exhibition complexes, began to apply construction solutions that allow exposition and congress activities to be carried out in one complex and / or to have easily transformable areas for holding both exhibitions and various public events, including number of conventions, conferences, party conventions, entertainment events, etc. According to the ICCA (International Congress and Conference Association), 10% of all international conferences are held in North America. Over 400 conferences are held annually in New York alone.

Congress and exhibition tourism has a number of distinctive features.

1. Congress and exhibition activities are characterized by seasonality. Traditionally, the "hot" exhibition time is September-November and February-May, i.e. spring and autumn, when there are peaks in the number of organized exhibitions, the number of exhibitors and visitors. Since the ups and downs of congress and exhibition activities do not coincide with the seasonal fluctuations of classical leisure tourism, it helps to smooth out the seasonal uneven development of tourism in general, as well as business trips.

2. The venues of the exhibitions are dedicated to the leading countries in the production of the advertised products.

3. Convention and exhibition tourism is dominated by domestic tourist flows .

4. The list of participants depends on the status of the congress and exhibition event . Basically, national participants prevail (about 60%) over foreign ones. But there are a number of exhibitions that have an international status, where the number of foreign participants exceeds the number of national ones. These are exhibitions on automotive, tourism and sports topics, computer science and information technology. In each specialization, 2-3 most significant exhibitions can be named, which are known all over the world, have an international status and can gather up to 300 thousand visitors. A striking example of such an exhibition is the FITUR International Tourism Exhibition in Madrid, which is held annually in late January - early February (see Appendix, table 11). Experts from all over the world come to this exhibition to exchange experience.

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Along with trips to congresses and exhibitions, business tourism includes incentive tours. The concept of "incentive" (English) is interpreted as incentive, encouraging. This type of tourism refers to trips with which commercial firms reward their employees for high performance in work or motivate them to be more productive in the future, as well as holding retreats, seminars, conferences. There are two types of incentive tours: individual tours; traveling seminars, conferences, dealer schools.

The first incentive tour was held in 1910 in the USA by the National Cash Register Company of Danton. The company's agents and dealers were awarded a free trip to New York for excellent performance. The beginning of the regular use of trips in the form of incentives was laid in the 60s. 20th century thanks to the start of civil jet flights:

Incentive tourism has several goals:

Presentation and promotion of a new product or service;

Increase productivity and quality;

Creation of a dealer and agent network;

Formation of a loyal and cohesive team.

Depending on the goal, there are three types of incentive programs: incentive programs, motivational programs, team building.

Incentive - program - the best remedy to encourage employees, employees, senior managers, customers or dealers, the effect of which will last for a long time. A distinctive feature of incentive programs is that they are developed exclusively individually for a specific customer. These tours offer high quality accommodation and service on the route.

Group trips remain the dominant segment in the incentive tourism market, despite the decline in their share in the early 1980s. The number of tourists in an incentive group can vary from a few to 100 people or more. In half of the groups, the number of members does not exceed 10 people. Incentive groups are made up of executive employees of companies, employees of middle and senior management levels, as well as ordinary consumers, such as regular customers. The structure of incentive - groups includes the leading person, sales managers, consumers, agents and distributors.

With the expansion of the incentive tourism market, firms specializing in organizing incentive trips have appeared. They provide qualified assistance in the development of special incentive programs labor collective. According to the contract, the company's administration plans and organizes incentive tours. The effectiveness of this reward system depends not least on how well the travel route is chosen. Travel must be attractive to employees and appropriate to their age, health, religious beliefs and personal interests. Therefore, the travel agency often precedes its work by monitoring potential customers. The most famous travel companies Incentive travel companies in the US are EF McDonald Travel Companies, Maritz Travel Companies and Top Value Enterprises.

The growth in the number of incentive tours served as an impetus for expanding the scope of congress and exhibition activities and holding specialized forums on incentive tourism. This growth led to the organization of university training courses for this segment of the tourism business, contributed to the formation of numerous associations, societies, etc. One of them is Society officials in the field of incentive tourism. (SITE), which is located in New York. It has 650 members. Currently, SITE has 18 committees, manages the University of Incentive Tourism, holds regional meetings, seminars, trade shows. -Incentive tour programs depend on the specialization of the trip organizers and the region. Recreational and business centers are becoming the most popular regions for incentive trips.

Experts note that incentive tourism has a great future. In the 21st century it will become the main form of rewarding workers in the leading sectors of the world economy.

Another type of business tourism is congress tourism, which, in turn, is a kind of exhibition tourism. The differences between congress and exhibition tourism are manifested at the level of small specifics, mainly related to the composition of groups and the requirements for the infrastructure of the host country. It is necessary to single out congress tourism in a small subsection because the organization of congress events, which has a lot of general organization exhibition activities, imposes somewhat different requirements on the infrastructure and organizers. Congress events are smaller in scale than exhibition events, but have a more qualified and demanding composition of participants. In terms of profitability, congress events are inferior to exhibitions, since they are designed for a smaller number of participants. However, unlike exhibitions, congresses, especially international congresses, focus on exclusive service, thereby ensuring that the best hotels in the city are occupied.

Congress tourism has one distinctive feature - it must have a large corporate customer: the government, individual ministries, large corporations and holdings. Events organized at the government level or with the support of government circles can greatly increase their attractiveness, and hence the load factor of accommodation facilities. Therefore, many congress organizers are trying to enlist the support of government circles to attract various kinds of international meetings to their territory.

The time of activation of congress tourism falls on autumn. Countries that focus on recreational tourism, such as Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, have a developed hotel network designed for multimillion-dollar tourist flows. During the period of decline in the activity of recreational tourism, there are big problems with the loading of the hotel base. Therefore, these countries are guided by the organization of large-scale congresses and conferences in the autumn.

Conferences, seminars and exhibitions are by no means new phenomena in modern business. In connection with the trends of globalization, the spread of business contacts, the expansion of sales markets and the activities of international corporations, the number and importance of conferences, meetings and other similar events, which are now held in different cities and countries around the world.

A prerequisite for classifying a conference or other event in the congress tourism market is to hold it outside the premises of the organization initiating the conference. The use of the services of travel companies in the organization, preparation and conduct of the event is essential, but not prerequisite. However, not a single initiator of a serious conference will be able to independently carry out its full organization. Companies that organize meetings and conferences usually act as specialists - intermediaries.

The fundamental differences of one type of conference from another are their social and economic importance, the complexity of the organization and the procedure for conducting, the number of participants (delegates).

Segmentation of the congress tourism market can be carried out according to the purposes of convocation, the nature of work, the number of participants and their qualitative composition, the level of competence of the meetings being convened, the frequency of convocation. However, the main criterion by which it is possible to segment the congress tourism market is the nature of the initiator of convening a particular meeting. It is the nature of the initiator that determines the type of conference being organized, as well as the list of necessary services.

Two segments can be distinguished: the corporate market of conferences and the non-corporate market of conferences - the sphere of activity of government structures and industry associations (see diagram 1 p. 26).

The unincorporated conference market can be subdivided into three categories:

scientific conferences;

Trade and economic conferences;

Conferences of members of associations that bring together people with different interests, such as sports, clubs, etc.;

The corporate conference market can be subdivided into three categories of meetings: - Internal meetings are intended exclusively for company employees. External meetings are intended for companies operating on this market. Accordingly, the external partners of the corporation act as participants in such events. Most often, companies hold product presentations, dealer/distributor conferences, symposiums/seminars to discuss a specific issue. Also, the category of external meetings may include exhibitions, meetings of shareholders and press conferences.

Meetings intended for both internal and external partners can be classified as two large groups: workshops (Workshops) and events aimed at training (Training).

Congress tourism makes a significant contribution to the national income of both developing and highly developed countries. Its social significance is also evidenced by the fact that the number of people directly employed in this type of business tourism in the United States is estimated at 1.7 million people, i.e. 1 in 86 US citizens are directly or indirectly employed in the convention tourism industry.

Scheme 1. The structure of the congress tourism market

The Russian congress tourism market today is a developing, unsaturated market, where competition is not yet strong enough due to the small number of its participants. Currently, there are about 15-20 firms operating in the business tourism market in Russia that specialize exclusively in providing services in the field of congress tourism.

For companies, congress tourism is a promising business area. Another factor in the growing demand for these services is that the Russian economy is developing, which in turn initiates business activity various industries business and public organizations within the country, and also attracts the attention of foreign corporations and companies Russian markets and its participants in terms of partnership and investment.

It should also be noted that congress tourism is a rather difficult type of business, and Russian companies need to gain experience progressive technologies organization of high-level events and expand the range of high-quality services that meet international standards in order to provide the entire cycle of servicing the event - from pre-preparation of the conference to post-event services, fully meet the needs of a demanding and experienced client audience, which, of course, are the initiators of conferences, including foreign. Only if these conditions are met, companies will be able to function effectively and compete in this market.