Re-opening and development of world and domestic tourism, digitalization of industry services, formation of deferred demand and competition, branding of regions and marketing of territories, new routes and points of attraction of tourists, changes in legislation and customer focus in the pandemic era.

These and other current trends in the tourism industry have become the key themes of the International Forum-Exhibition OTDYKH Leisure 2021, which was held in Moscow's «Expocentre» from 7 to 9 September under the motto «We Will Rock Tourism». The total number of participants OTDYKH Leisure 2021 exceeded 450 companies. National and regional tourist offices of foreign countries and regions of Russian Federation, tour operators and host companies, hotels and resorts, air companies and transport companies, sanatorium resort facilities and tourist facilities presented their tourist product. 23 foreign countries: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Spain, Egypt, Iran, Cyprus, Cuba, China, Italy, Thailand, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Moldova, India, Germany, Lithuania, Japan, Peru, Venezuela, Jordan and Brazil presented their stands on OTDYKH Leisure 2021 . The tourist potential of Russia was demonstrated by 41 regions of the Russian Federation: regions of the North-West, the Urals, Siberia, Central Russia. For the first time, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Rostov and Omsk Oblasts, Republic of Udmurtia took part in the OTDYKH Leisure. In total, in various formats: stands, presentations, presentations in the business program, visit from the official delegation - more than 70 regions of the Russian Federation took part in the events of the exhibition. One of the headliners of the exhibition, as expected, was Egypt, considering the opening of the borders and the resumption of the air service between Russia and Egypt. The largest by area, stand of Egypt aroused great interest of professional audience. In 2021, the number of partners of OTDYKH Leisure significantly expanded. Partner country - Egypt, region partner - Nizhny Novgorod region, partner city - Saint Petersburg. Official partners - Altai Krai and the Republic of Khakassia. Official tour operator - company «Academservice». General Partner of the international forum-exhibition OTDYKH Leisure 2021 was PJSC «Sberbank». Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs Boris Paikin, Deputy Head of the Rostourism Elena Lysenkova, Chairman of the Tourism Development Council of Egypt Ahmed Yousef, First Deputy Minister of Tourism of Cuba Maria del Carmen Oryana, Chairman of the Tourism Development Committee of Saint Petersburg Sergey Korneev, Deputy Head of the Republic of Khakassia - Chairman of the Government of the Republic Khakassia Irina Voinova, Director of the Department of Tourism Development and Folk Arts of the Nizhny Novgorod region Sergey Yakovlev, Chairman of the Commission on the tourist industry of the RSPP Sergey Shpilko and President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Andrei Ignatiev took part in the opening ceremony on September 7.

OTDYKH Leisure 2021 was marked by official visits of: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Khaled Al-Anani and Chairman of the Tourism Development Council of Egypt Ahmed Yousef, First Deputy Minister of Tourism of Cuba Maria del Carmen Oriana, Florian Zengstschmid, Chief Executive Director, Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau. "Such a wide representation of Russian, foreign participants and business partners once again confirmed the status of OTDYKH Leisure as an annual significant industry platform for travel planning in the autumn-winter season. As part of the business program OTDYKH Leisure held more than 30 events, which were attended by more than 160 speakers." The key event of the first working day OTDYKH Leisure 2021 was the strategic session «Show must go on: The future of tourism: trends in the field of travel», during which Russian and international experts talked about how the international tourism sector is coping with the effects of the pandemic, and what actions are being taken by regulators and market leaders. The development of tourist routes in the NWFD and inter-regional cooperation were discussed at the strategic session «Silver Necklace of Russia». As the chairman of the Committee for the Development of Tourism of Saint Petersburg Sergey Korneev noted, the routes of «Silver Necklace» are still in demand. There is a new mobility of people who are looking for different scenarios of recreation, and Saint Petersburg is a travel hub for travel in the Northwest of Russia. From Petersburg thanks to the developed railway, air and automobile connections you can visit the cities and towns of the Leningrad region, Pskov and Novgorod regions, Karelia, Russian North. On the first day OTDYKH Leisure 2021 held the signing of an inter-regional agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism within the framework of the project on creation of the federal highway M-12. Five regions became signed to the agreement: Moscow, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Vladimir Region, the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Chuvash Republic. "The second day of OTDYKH Leisure wasn't less saturated with the activities of the program. During the open dialogue «Competition in tourism. Counteraction to unfair practices» representatives of FAS, Rostourism, Committee for Tourism Development of Saint Petersburg and Association «World without Borders» discussed the future regulation of prices for hotel services during the period of particularly significant events, the practice of subsidy allocation and the situation around aggregators in the hotel market." "The session «Tourist business as an ecosystem Global technological trends and synergy of technologies for the development of tourism» united different participants of the tourism market. It was noted that the ecosystem offered great opportunities for cooperation and technological development. Priority directions of development of children’s tourism were considered at the session «Development of children’s tourism: new vectors». Advisor to the head of the Federal Tourism Agency Yulia Rybakova told about the work on the «Strategy of tourism development in the Russian Federation until 2035» and the national project «Tourism and hospitality industry», as well as about the projects that are implemented in the field of children’s tourism. According to the Rostourism, children’s tourism today accounts for 10% of the domestic tourist flow."

"The practice of refund for failed tours due to the pandemic was discussed at the practical session «Tourism and law 2021-2022: what you need to know» by lawyers, human rights defenders and travel agencies . The discussions were very focused: practical cases, rules for electronic contracting and specific recommendations. With the participation of ATOR held a special session «New opportunities in tourism and where do they come from? The view of market leaders», during which CEOs of leading tour operators told about the steps and tools that help them work and develop during the pandemic." The presentation session «100 verse from Moscow: tourism weekend - new opportunities for the development of territories» has indicated new prospects of short-term travel. As it was emphasized, weekend tourism has changed a lot. This is not only trips along the routes of the Golden Ring, but also short courses in Sochi «Sirius», a ballet festival in the scenery of Chersonesos, rest in Baikal or the hunt for the northern lights in Murmansk. Representatives of tourism of the two countries spoke about the restoration of tourist ties and mutual increase of tourist flows between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Moldova during the open dialogue «Travel&Wine. Moldova - Russia», the official partner of which was the Republic of Moldova. What tourist products and routes Azerbaijan has to offer to the Russian market, was told in the open dialogue «Tourism opportunities of Azerbaijan and new routes». The second day of the 27th International Forum-Exhibition OTDYKH Leisure 2021 was closed by the ceremony of awarding participants. The official partner of the solemn event was the winery «Kuban Wine». On the final day of the exhibition, September 9, several creative and vivid discussions were held on marketing, promotion and creation of attractive tourism products. Experts and practitioners shared the secrets of the formation and promotion of New Year tours at the session «Journey to the New Year». The session «Client Service in MICE» was devoted to the practice of servicing corporate clients, with Rostov region as the official partner. How to respond accordingly to complaints of dissatisfied clients, was discussed on the series of workshops «Customer orientation in the pandemic era», as well as how to create a flamboyant brand and competently manage it - on the master class «Team of brand management of the region». " According to preliminary data, OTDYKH Leisure was visited by about 6000 professionals and more than 3000 people followed the events of the exhibition online."