R&C Market Research Company sums up the results of 2020 and presents the 7th annual rating of the event potential of Russian regions. The past year has become a serious challenge for the development of all sectors of the economy and social sphere of the regions, however, the tourism and event industries were among the most affected by the "pandemic" crisis.

The initial pool of the rating is made up of the regions of Russia and the cities that are their administrative centers. In the general composition of the sample, Sochi and its tourist and recreational cluster, as a destination with high event activity, are taken into account separately from the Krasnodar Territory, while St. Petersburg, on the contrary, is considered in tandem with the Leningrad Region. The eventual potential of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is also assessed as a single block, which is due to the common conditions for the socio-economic development of these regions within Russia. Traditionally, Moscow and the Moscow region participate in the study, but are not included in the rating due to the level of development of the event industry that is ahead of other regions. The total sample for the study is 83 regions and cities of Russia. The final ranking includes 82 regions and cities.

To build the rating, multivariate analysis is used. The methodology is based on the aggregation of various indicators characterizing the most important factors in assessing the event potential of a destination. The analyzed indicators are divided into 5 groups.

1. Event infrastructure - characterizes the city's ability to host and hold business events of various formats. Evaluated: the presence of convention and exhibition centers, large congress hotels, chain hotels, World Trade Centers, as well as the modernization of specialized facilities of the convention and exhibition infrastructure. Since the task of this rating is to assess the potential of the region in terms of holding congresses and exhibitions, and not the level of the current site load, the current assessments did not take into account the volume of profile and non-profile load in 2020 - only the very fact of availability and compliance with the requirements for specialized infrastructure facilities.

2. The program for promoting the region as a destination for events - characterizes the region's capabilities to attract events of various levels and tourist flows. Assessed: the presence of the region's brand, the promotion program in Russia and abroad. The pool of foreign exhibitions in 2020 was adjusted, only the largest and most famous of them remained in the final list: IBTM (all line), ITB (all line), IMAX (all line), WTM, Fitur. Taking into account the specifics of 2020, it should be noted that the participation of regions in specialized exhibitions was assessed in the context of the format of the events. First of all, face-to-face participation in offline events was taken into account. Participation in hybrid and online events was also counted in cases where they were held instead of the traditional events taken into account in the current ranking. Points did not count for event cancellations in 2020.

3. The policy of the region in the field of the event industry and the activities of specialized coordinating bodies - characterizes the level of administrative coordination of all market participants. Assessed: the presence of a congress bureau, the presence of tourist information centers (TIC), the presence of a policy for the development of the event industry, the availability of direct financing of exhibition, fair and congress activities from the regional budget, as well as the presence of Russian Convention Bureau and RUEF member companies in the region. In 2020, the parameters for assessing regional policies in the profile area were expanded. The convention and exhibition industry has been recognized as the industry that has suffered significant damage from the COVID-19 pandemic. It received support both at the federal and, in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, at the regional level. In this regard, a new indicator was added to the rating 2020 - the availability of measures of industry enterprises in the regions.

4. Experience in hosting major international events - characterizes the attractiveness of the destination for event organizers of various levels. Assessed: the experience of holding major international events (sports, cultural and entertainment, business, governmental) over the past 5 years and planned for 5 years ahead, the experience of holding events of international associations over the past 5 years and planned for 5 years ahead, the presence of regular events over the past 10 years.

5. Tourism potential - characterizes the tourist attractiveness and availability of the destination. Assessed: cultural and historical potential and transport accessibility for international communication. The parameters of transport accessibility are assessed based on the maximum throughput of the region that developed in the period preceding the introduction of transport restrictions, namely, as of February 2020.

RATING OF THE EVENT POTENTIAL OF RUSSIAN REGIONS – 2020.pdf