International Tourism Forum Travel Hub Commonwealth Kicked Off in Tavricheskiy Palace

On 9 November 2022, the International Tourism Forum Travel Hub “Commonwealth” kicked off in St. Petersburg, in the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters.

Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy opened the Forum and noted that today the tourism industry had become a diplomatic platform for peace and friendship of representatives of various peoples.

Vice Governor of St. Petersburg Oleg Ergashev welcomed the participants on behalf of the Government of St. Petersburg and stressed that the Forum promoted dialogue between government and business and brought together representatives of public authorities, commercial organizations in the field of tourism.

Chair of the Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Tourism Industry Dastan Ryspekov, Director of the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus Irina Voronovich, Chair of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Tourism and Tourism Infrastructure Sangadji Tarbaev, President of the Tourism Development Support Fund of the Kyrgyz Republic Elena Kalashnikova, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Volvach, Director of the House of Peoples of Russia Anna Polezhaeva, Director of the Tourism Agency of the Ulyanovsk Region Denis Ilyin addressed the participants with welcoming speeches.

The work of the Forum was followed by a plenary session and panel discussions on the prospects for the development of medical and health tourism in the Commonwealth countries.

An exhibition dedicated to the tourism potential of the Commonwealth countries was opened in the Catherine’s Hall of the Tavricheskiy Palace.