Corporate time: business tourists are changing Sochi to Murmansk
Karelia and Murmansk are striving to displace Sochi, Altai and Kazan in the ranking of the most popular cities and regions for business events, Izvestia found out. Conferences, exhibitions, and corporate events are increasingly being held in more northern regions. The company is attracted by both the beauty of the northern nature and the gastronomic delights. However, high-status and comfortable accommodation facilities in most regions are still insufficient, which significantly narrows the geography of business events, experts noted.
Where has the interest of business tourists shifted
Companies have become more likely to hold business events in the northern regions of Russia, booking services and analysts told Izvestia. Instead of the popular Sochi or Krasnodar Territories, Karelia, Baikal and Murmansk began to be preferred for outbound business and corporate events. These can be incentive trips for the best employees, as well as conferences, exhibitions, and corporate events.
If we exclude Moscow and St. Petersburg, Sochi still retains the first place, with the Black Sea resort accounting for 13.5% of all requests for organizing corporate events in the country, analysts at the MICE Excellence professional community estimated.
— Another popular destination is Altai, which accounts for 8.6% of the total number of requests. Karelia came in third place with an indicator of 6% of requests. Kazan and Samara complete the top five in the rating, each with 5.3%, the analysts noted. — Kaliningrad is next in the list of sought-after regions for business tourism, which is considered in 4.8% of cases.
They called all these destinations traditionally popular in the business tourism market. At the same time, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for organizing business field events in more remote regions such as Baikal and Murmansk. They entered the top ten popular destinations, receiving about 4.6% of all requests for the organization of such events.
Among other cities that have also begun to attract business tourists, Irina Mikhalkova, creative director of MICE Excellence, named Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tyumen.
"There is an increased interest in Siberian aesthetics, the beauty of local nature, and local gastronomy," she said.
The growing popularity of more northern destinations for group trips was confirmed by Izvestia and Yandex Travel. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, the number of group hotel bookings in the Altai Territory more than doubled, in Karelia — by 70%, in the Murmansk Region — by 47%, in the Irkutsk region — by 43%. Karelia has also entered the top five destinations with the most group bookings over the past year.
The average cost of a night in a hotel for a group booking was lowest in the Irkutsk region, where it amounted to 9 thousand rubles, in the Murmansk region it will cost 11.1 thousand, in the Altai Territory — 14.3 thousand, in Karelia — 15.5 thousand rubles.
If we analyze group air orders, then the most frequent flights are to Moscow, and flights to St. Petersburg, Sochi, Mineralnye Vody and Yekaterinburg are also popular, the OneTwoTrip for Business travel service added.
The average cost of a one-way flight to Moscow from different cities of the country in the first quarter of 2025 is 8.8 thousand rubles per person. You can fly to St. Petersburg for 7.8 thousand rubles, and to Sochi for 10.3 thousand rubles. A flight to Mineralnye Vody will cost an average of 9.6 thousand rubles, and to Yekaterinburg — 9.1 thousand.
Field events, team building and corporate parties are most popular in the summer, added the head of the GR-service "Fly.<url>" by George Shader.
— It is worth noting that over the past few years there have been quite a lot of requests for various interesting formats. For example, sports filled with adrenaline, such as the "Race of Heroes," he explained.
In general, according to him, there is a high demand for intensive courses and corporate trips to picturesque natural locations throughout the business events industry, such as Altai, the Far East, Baikal, Kamchatka, the Caucasus, and Sochi.
— As part of traditional corporate trips, Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, are most often chosen as the venue, which can be reached relatively quickly. The event lasts an average of one or two days, so the road, as a rule, should not take much time," he explained.
What are the benefits of business events?
The market for business and corporate events has recovered from the recession in 2022 and has moved on to growth, experts interviewed by Izvestia said. The business is again actively investing in field conferences, industry forums and corporate events, said Elena Borovaya, CEO of Corporate Travel.
"Development—oriented companies set budgets for external and internal business events in advance - this is no longer a one—time expense item, but a strategic investment," she stressed.
Personal presence at key events gives a business a competitive advantage — partners see real people, the expert added.
Besides, for the company, on—site corporate activities are a powerful tool for increasing employee loyalty and for attracting new staff in conditions of shortage, independent PR consultant Denis Goldman believes. According to him, this also helps new employees to join the team faster, and the company does not spend additional funds on their adaptation.
— The organization and holding of conferences and seminars is primarily a marketing and image story for leading companies in their industry. In addition to the cost of placement, the lion's share of expenses is for ordering high-quality branded products with logos.
Fluctuations in exchange rates can seriously increase the budget of events, especially if a trip abroad is planned, Elena Borovaya added.
"The time of booking is also important: the closer the date of the event, the higher the prices for transportation and accommodation," she added. — The cost of participation in the event may also increase due to late registration.
In most Russian regions, there are still problems with accommodation during major events, Aleksan Mkrtchyan, Vice President of the Alliance of Travel Agencies Association, pointed out. There are not enough four- and five-star hotels.
— From the point of view of the number of rooms, events for 3-5 thousand people can only be hosted by Moscow, Sochi, St. Petersburg and Kazan. About 300 people can receive large regional centers," he said.
At the same time, companies with large budgets tend to hold events where guests can stay in four- to five-star hotels, the expert assured.
— For example, Lake Baikal is very interesting to everyone, but where to accommodate a thousand people there? There are simply no such hotels," Aleksan Mkrtchyan said.
It is the lack of suitable accommodation facilities that significantly narrows the choice of regions for large business events, the expert concluded.
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