Best time to visit Russia as the package cost is down to half, says Charu Makin

 Visit Russia aiming to bring more tour operators under umbrella
Please share details of your marketing strategy in India.
Visit Russia’s strategy is broadly divided into the two main segments that we cater FIT and MICE. Our primary focus is to bring Russian travel products to the average Indian at an affordable price without compromising on the quality of services. In MICE, we aim to bring different experiences to the client and create a unique travel program and experience.
We are also exclusive partners to most market leaders, both classical and OTA’s, with pan India reach. To ensure customer satisfaction, we have chosen our partners carefully and believe in working closely with them.

How do you ensure your company is better than others? What is your USP?
As it’s a well know fact that USP of any company is created by its employees and management. We therefore, are proud to say that, our 18 year presence
in Russia and India makes us uniquely positioned to understand Indian tourists and ensure a lifetime experience for them in Russia.
The personal hands-on experience of our CEO in Russia helps us fine tune our services on a daily basis. Other key points that play major role are the exceptional services provided by us such as fully automated
Systems  for  visas and operations,  best hotel rates in the market, etc.

How do you view India as a source market?
India is a very cost -sensitive market. After the devaluation of the
Ruble against Dollar, the cost of packages is down to half. Moreover, due to  Sanctions   from Europe and US, Russia increasingly leaning towards Asia as there is a decrease of incoming tourists from European countries. There is suddenly a huge bandwidth of transport vendors, hotels, guides, sightseeing which is available at cheaper rates. All these factors have given a positive boost to the price sensitive Indian Market.

What are the activities/promotional strategies lined up for later this year? Please share details.
Being one of the B2B players, our aim is to bring more tour operators under our umbrella. We intend to participate in all the leading travel exhibitions this year Also we are aiming to introduce other destinations of Russia like Sochi, Kazan, Kamchatka, and Trans Siberian to the Indian market.
This will attract the well travelled and niche travelers alike.
Other than that, we are quite active on social media where we run information campaigns and contests frequently. We are already managing a MICE campaign across the travel magazines and intend to continue the same.