How the opening of the Minsk International Exhibition Center affected the development of business tourism

Tourism is a multi-vector industry that unites 55 types of economic activity. To systematize various areas of hospitality in the country at the legislative level, 13 types of tourism are defined. One of them is business. This trend is very promising: it is estimated that work travel accounts for about 20 per cent of all travel in the world, and about 11 per cent of travel involves visits to major international exhibitions and fairs. Therefore, it is important that the country has platforms that can attract major events and their audience to its walls. The Minsk International Exhibition Center was established in Belarus for this purpose. It has been operating for over a year - we learned about the interim results and plans of the anchor of our MICE-tourism from the deputy director for exhibition activities of BelExpo Victoria Agafonova.

The effect in figures and facts — Victoria Nikolaevna, the opening of the Minsk International Exhibition Center was a landmark event for the country and the near abroad. The center has been operating for more than a year - let's sum up the interim results.

- During this time, the IMC became a new point of attraction and fully demonstrated its importance for Minsk, Belarus and the CIS space. The emergence of such a center was made possible by the President’s decision – it was a strategic view on the development of the country’s exhibition infrastructure. Belarus needed a modern, functional and sound platform capable of hosting events of different levels and scale. At the same time, the peculiarity of the center is that we hold completely different events at any time of the year here. Speaking in terms of facts, during this period we organized eight of our own and 28 guest events. More than a million people visited them, and thousands of companies participated in the expositions - from regional manufacturers to the largest industrial holdings from Belarus, near and far abroad.

The value of such a platform for the economy of the city and the state is measured not only by its image, but also by specific financial flows. The mechanism of this multiplier effect works very logically. So, a business tourist on average spends 3-4 times more than a classic vacationer. He stays in hotels, uses a business taxi, conducts business dinners in restaurants, buys souvenirs. The entire infrastructure of Minsk is involved in this work, creating new jobs and ensuring the workload of the hospitality sector even in the off-season. It is obvious that the city has all the opportunities and interest for this, which cements the status of the capital as a key point on the world map of events.

But, in addition to the indirect impact on the urban environment, there is also a direct economic result: contracts and deals signed on the sidelines of the forums.

The exhibition of weapons and military equipment MILEX on its results brought contracts for almost $ 400 million. The Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia ended with the signing of agreements worth about $600 million. Industrial exhibition "INNOPROM". Belarus brought together more than 500 companies and 14,000 specialists, becoming a trigger for expanding cooperation ties. As organizers, we have always said that personal communication will never replace anything, and these figures are the best proof of this. This level of business activity naturally increases the status of the country. The presence of a modern platform allows us to host events of the highest political weight. Recall: the Eurasian Economic Forum, the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of Government, the EAEU Intergovernmental Council were held on the territory of the IIMEC. Representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS member states also actively interact with us on the sidelines of business programs.

- The activities you listed are quite diverse - so how can you guarantee their implementation?

- Well thought out architecture of the whole complex. Thus, the exhibition part of the center is designed taking into account the maximum transformation. Exhibition halls with a floor load of five tons per square meter are capable of receiving heavy industrial and military equipment. Mobile soundproof partitions divide it into independent spaces, and a stationary telescopic stand in a matter of minutes turns the platform into an amphitheater. The smaller exhibition hall is similarly divided into parts and has direct entrances from the congress center, which allows us to seamlessly combine the business program, exhibition exposition and buffet area into a single stream. The technical capabilities of the center are 100% consistent with any task. It is this freedom of transformation that creates a unique event grid. Strict government events take place in the same space, followed shortly thereafter by drift championship stages or large-scale concerts.

The exhibition of achievements “My Belarus”, which is considered the most visited, has been held on our territory twice. Each time she collected sold out, setting new records - more than 400 thousand people per season. The spacious gallery made it possible to comfortably distribute these huge flows of families, schoolchildren and regional delegations without interfering with their business audience. And the restaurant and dozens of meeting rooms cover the needs of any format of meetings - from tastings to competitive programs. New approaches to organization help the event expand, transform and grow.

The trend towards maximum load is obvious. - What is in the calendar of the iconic upcoming events of the IMVC?

- The autumn business season will be busy. The site has already hosted an exhibition of Chinese goods and services, a double exposition in the field of construction and housing and communal services - the international exhibitions "Our Home" and BUDEXPO. But I would like to focus on the International Industrial Exhibition INNOPROM. Belarus is the second such large-scale project to be held within our borders. We see it growing, attracting hundreds of companies and thousands of specialists to expand cooperation ties.

The calendar clearly demonstrates that interest in the site goes far beyond traditional industry reviews. We host the Belarusian Energy and Environmental Forum ENERGY EXPO, the International Dental Forum “Dentistry of Belarus” and the largest wholesale exhibition-fair PRODEXPO. I would like to highlight the international forum of AI technologies AI ATOM Global EXPO. This is a fundamentally new format for us, where neural networks, robotics and computer vision will be demonstrated live. The presence of modern multimedia solutions, interactive zones and reliable infrastructure allows us to perfectly implement such high-tech projects.

Organizers understand the value of our ecosystem, so the planning horizon is always long. The site is chosen for at least six months, and more often - for a year or two. We are already actively booking dates for next season. For example, the main agricultural exhibition BELAGRO in 2027 has already been confirmed. I can say with confidence that the calendar of events for next year has already been formed by about 60-70%.

As for 2028, it is premature to talk about this, but the trend towards maximum workload of the center is absolutely obvious.

Today we see the task not to provide square meters, but to use the full potential of the complex as efficiently as possible. Therefore, our team is actively developing the direction of concert activities. In our calendar already announced a big solo concert of the famous Russian band. The ability to quickly transform the exhibition hall with its stationary telescopic stand into a full-fledged acoustic amphitheater makes such events technically flawless and comfortable for spectators.

In addition to events at its own venue, BELEXPO also develops visiting cultural formats. One such example is the summer concert series of the symphony project. We will continue to expand this range of entertainment.

Two important factors coincided – long-term experience of the Republican Unitary Enterprise “BelExpo National Exhibition Center” Management of Presidential Affairs and a powerful material and technical base of the Minsk International Exhibition Center. The team was formed over the years, held exhibition and business projects before the appearance of the new complex, so initially participated in the process of its design and construction as a future operator. We entered this project not as tenants, but as specialists who understand exactly what architectural logic, ceiling height, engineering equipment, flow logistics, exhibition space, congress infrastructure and service areas are needed for successful events of any scale. That is why now the platform allows you to work with a variety of formats – from industry exhibitions and international forums to concerts, presentations, festivals and socially significant projects.

Behind each such architectural solution was a specific operational task: to dilute flows, quickly change the configuration of the halls, to ensure the operation of the protocol, press, business program, exposition and mass audience in one complex. Therefore, the congress part was originally designed as an independent business circuit, which, if necessary, is easily connected to the exhibition space.

It was this approach that made it possible to create the Congress Center as an independent but flexible integrated ecosystem. It has its own turnstiles and registration area, which completely eliminates the intersection of the flow of business delegates and mass visitors to exhibitions. The congress hall is designed on the principle of an amphitheater, which guarantees an excellent view, and the presence of simultaneous interpretation booths and video conferencing systems allows you to hold international events without technical compromises.

The main thing is the logistics of space. The conference halls have direct access to the fifth exhibition hall. This gives the organizers a unique opportunity to seamlessly expand the business program with an exhibition exposition or a buffet area, without taking guests into common corridors or outdoors. There is also a VIP area with a separate entrance and facilities for service, which allows for comfortable and safe accommodation of top officials, which is critical for status events.

Separately, I would like to note the lack of natural lighting in the exhibition pavilions. For many sites, this would be a disadvantage, but for us it is a huge advantage. Being completely manageable means that we are independent of the time of day or the weather. It is an ideal controlled environment for building any scenarios in light and sound.

- What new, perhaps non-obvious projects are you planning to develop in the near future at the IOMC?

- We will actively develop the direction of concert, show and interactive activities. We closely follow trends and understand that today the viewer, both professional and mass, is interested in formats with a high level of engagement. Our goal is to create new projects that have both economic benefits and social functions.

A separate new direction, which has been revealed for themselves, is the holding of large-scale spectacular shows and filming on our territory. We are ready to provide a platform for any creative ideas, based on our experience, where the creative idea never rests on technical limitations. The clearest proof of this flexibility was the recent International Automobile Festival, which for the first time hosted the stage of the open drift championship. We were able to quickly adapt our open area for the drift track. The infrastructure of the center allowed not only to provide safe conditions for pilots, but also to develop around a full-fledged festival environment: with an exhibition of cars, a food court and a children's area, to finish with an increasingly large concert.

- Indeed, this trend is observed all over the world. Businessmen come to conclude contracts, but often stay to explore the country, take families with them. We cover this need with our own ecosystem: our travel operator, catering, logistics – all work in one window. The delegate receives not only a business program, but also a full-fledged tourist service - this is quite in demand, our state tour operator has been working in this direction since 2001. So BelExpo has extensive experience in organizing high-level events, understand the specifics of working with business groups, official delegations and corporate customers. This allows you to create unique tourist products with the inclusion of iconic natural, historical and industrial sites of Belarus - from national parks and reserves to enterprises where you can see the industrial potential of the country. The latter direction is in particular demand among investors - this is the most convincing argument in favor of concluding a contract.

By the way, the business tourism sector in the country shows steady growth. More than 10.5 thousand business events are held annually in the republic. The task of the operator is to keep the MICE guest longer, offering him a high-quality and thoughtful post-tour.

The plans include further development of author routes that connect the business agenda with ecological and cultural tourism. The goal of the tour operator is to pack this unique wealth into a comfortable, logistically verified format, so that any trip becomes a full-fledged and memorable immersion in the context of the country.

The Minsk International Exhibition Center is primarily a tool for realizing national interests through the event industry. For the state, it is a modern infrastructure for holding major business, industry, public and international events. Here you can present the industrial, scientific, technological, tourist and cultural potential of Belarus, hold negotiations, organize a business program and create conditions for direct communication between participants.

It is simply impossible for an export-oriented country to conduct modern trade without a specialized platform. When foreign investors and delegations come and see our developments with their own eyes - from giant dump trucks and electric buses to satellites and unmanned vehicles, their perception of the point of visit changes dramatically. We clearly prove that Belarusians are a modern nation capable of creating objects of the future. And in order to confidently stand alongside our partners on an equal footing, they must be interesting and technologically independent.

For business, the value of the MMVC is that it completely removes infrastructure constraints. Companies can come up with the boldest, most ambitious idea, and it doesn't fall into the technical box. We have implemented a columnless space unique for our region with a width of more than 60 meters. This gives the exhibitors absolute freedom: you can bring any heavy equipment, build multi-tier stands, hold an immersive presentation. At the same time, business gets not just an empty hall, but a ready-made ecosystem. It does not need to look for contractors on the side, dock logistics, lighting or catering - everything works in one window mode. This allows companies to save huge resources and focus exclusively on their business tasks and live communications.

As for the tourism industry

the center acts as a powerful driver that changes the profile of the incoming tourist. We generate a stream of discerning business guests who often come with families and stay to get to know the country deeper. And here, our ecosystem helps tour operators move away from patterned routes. The center sets a high bar of service and comfort, which pulls the entire urban environment behind it, helping the tourism industry to create a complex, premium product and form the right, modern face of the country.

druk@sb.by