The role of business travel and the congress and exhibition industry in the Russian economy

The article is focused on the topic of business travel and the congress and exhibition industry in the Russian economy. The authors analyse the pace of development of business travel in Russia and also in the world. Established that business travel is a priority type of tourism in the Russian Federation, which is enshrined in the Strategy for the Development of Tourism in the Russian Federation for the period until 2035. On the basis of statistics of the International Association of Congresses and Conferences (ICCA), have been identified leading cities by the number of international rotated congress and exhibition events. In addition, the congress and exhibition potential of St. Petersburg is evaluated, as well as there are highlighted the regional government program and the regional government project that help to develop business travel and congress and exhibition industry in the city. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the diversification of tourism in St. Petersburg is largely oriented towards business tourism. At the end of the article, there are substantiated the economic importance of business tourism and the congress and exhibition industry for the city economy.