Dmitriy Kobitskiy: Tourism is a Barometer of Economic Well-Being of Our Countries

On 17 March 2022, a meeting of the Strategic Session of the VI St. Petersburg International Labour Forum “New Trends of the Labour Market in the Hospitality Industry” took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters.

The event was moderated by Chairperson of the Luxury Travel Association, Director of the Department of Master’s and Postgraduate Studies at the North-West Institute of Management of RANEPA Marina Morozova and international certified business expert in PR and strategic marketing in the field of tourism and hospitality Asel Smolyar.

Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy addressed the participants of the meeting with a welcoming speech and noted that tourism was an indicator of the well-being of all areas of economy and public life. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the current difficult situation should be used as an impetus to strengthen and develop ties in the field of tourism among the CIS countries.

Chair of the St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development Sergey Korneev drew the attention of the participants to the great importance of the tourist flow from the CIS for the city. He also stressed that the committee would ask the IPA CIS for assistance on the tourism to CIS countries.

Co-founder of the International Professional Academy of Tourism Evgeny Pankevich focused on the development of youth tourism and noted that in the near future this segment should become the most dynamically developing.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights, Chair of the Committee of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan on Social Issues, Family and Health Protection Sumangul Tagoyzoda, Consul General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in St. Petersburg Alisher Babayev and experts from the CIS.

During the meeting, the participants discussed a wide range of relevant industry issues, such as staff training, the development of new tourist routes, the migration situation, the development of industrial tourism, etc.