St. Petersburg is doubling its subvention fund to 50 million rubles (about $755,000) for 2019 as part of its ongoing strategy to attract major international congresses to the city.
Although the fund is available for use across all the city’s venues, it will have a significant, positive impact on Expoforum, which is the city’s primary congress venue, capable of hosting up to 4,000 delegates in its main conference halls in addition to its 50,000 square meters of indoor exhibition space.
The fund, which is controlled by St. Petersburg government and the St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development, will be available to socially oriented nonprofit organizations, who are stimulating business tourism and events in St. Petersburg.
Subvention support will be granted as part of a competitive process, which will reimburse up to 50 percent of the costs of an event up to 10 million rubles (about $151,000). Key criteria to achieve subvention support include:
- Number of international participants
- Event duration
- Event dates
- Potential for domestic and international media reach
- Alignment of the event with the development priorities in the St. Petersburg Strategy for Economic and Social Development
“Expoforum is growing its presence internationally, with a variety of major events confirmed over the coming five years,” says Maria Tsedeviyn, international development director at Expoforum. “However, this comprehensive subvention strategy ensures we are competitive on the global stage. With upcoming enhancements to the city’s ambassador program and plans to simplify the visa process we are looking forward to significant growth in events from a wide variety of sectors. Whilst the fund will benefit St. Petersburg as a whole, the Expoforum team are particularly looking forward to the impact it will have on us in our position as the city’s primary venue for major events.”
Andrey Matsarin, head of St. Petersburg Convention Bureau, adds, “St. Petersburg has firmly established its presence in the global congress market. Our rich history and cultural offering blend perfectly with top universities, research centers and sector leading companies to make our city the perfect host for a wide variety of association events. Our accessibility is superb as is our ability to deliver major events as demonstrated by our work around the FIFA World Cup and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at Expoforum, which welcomes tens of thousands of delegates to the city each year.”
The subvention application process has also been simplified with support available from the CVB as well as local consultants to ensure associations maximize their chances of financial support.
ExpoForum International is the exhibition and convention organizer.The company operates two dedicated venues: EXPOFORUM and Lenexpo. It provides an entire range of related services, including building exhibition booths, catering, travel support and tourist services. For more info, visit www.expoforum.ru/en.
