VIII International Forum

On October 20-21, 2016 St. Petersburg will host the VIII International Forum "Water tourism". The event will be held in the framework of the Project "St. Petersburg is the Sea Capital of Russia" of the Party "UNITED RUSSIA" with the support of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Tourism, the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport and other relevant federal and regional ministries and departments.

The purpose of the Forum "Water tourism" is the improvement of the legal framework in the field of water tourism, open discussion of the most pressing problems of the industry, creating the conditions for the development of cruise and yacht tourism on the territory of Russia.

Over the last 8 years, the Forum has become a leading Event in the field of water tourism, which involves the Heads of major companies of the industry, representatives of the relevant federal and regional authorities, experts and scientific communities. More than 20 federal ministries and agencies, deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, about 50 Russian regions, more than 100 commercial companies and public organizations participated in a work of the Forum “Water tourism” in 2015. The main outcome of the Forum is a resolution with the suggestions and recommendations of the participants, which will be forwarded to the relevant committees of the State Duma and the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, federal ministries and agencies in order to improve the legislation and state regulation in the field of water tourism.

The main issues for discussion at the Forum will be:

• The state policy in the area of water tourism development;

• Improving the regulatory of cruise and yacht tourism;

• Development of infrastructure of inland waterways for cruise tourism;

• Mechanisms of incentive structures of the inbound cruise and yacht tourism;

• Creation of a new domestic cruise and yacht routes and import substitution in the tourism sector;

• The development of Russian ports infrastructure for cruise tourism;

• Prospects for sightseeing and recreational navigation in the Russian cities;

• Legal regulation of creation and modernization of yacht infrastructure;

• State support for ship-building and renovation of passenger cruise fleet in Russia.

The current situation in Russia is a unique one: on the one hand, there has been a significant increase in domestic and inbound tourism; on the other hand, despite the positive market conditions, water tourism industry can not realize its high potential, encountering a number of infrastructural, legal and other restrictions. For river cruise tourism it is primarily the poor state of the inland waterways, the obsolescence of the fleet, the low popularity of river cruises among the population. For sea cruises it is unavailability of ports to receive modern cruise ships, difficulties in passing the border and customs control, the need to simplify the visa regulations for foreign tourists. For yacht tourism it is the imperfection of legal regulation and the lack of development of yachting infrastructure. These issues are complex, and their solution is possible only in conditions of interagency cooperation and participation of all stakeholders.

Forum "Water Tourism" has established itself as an effective platform for dialogue between business and government, where most pressing problems of the industry are discussed, the best ways of solving them are being developed, the stable partnerships is formed.

Given the importance of the issues raised, tour operators of sea and river cruises, travel agencies, ship owners, ship builders, yacht clubs, investment and insurance companies, banks, sea and river passenger ports, construction companies, design institutes, developers and manufacturers of navigation equipment, dredging companies, satellite operators for sea and river vessels, IT-companies, cultural institutions, consulting and marketing agencies, nonprofit, scientific and educational organizations are invited to participate in the Forum.

Department of Exhibitions and Conferences: All past events