Dear friends,

I am pleased to welcome participants, organizers and guests of the 23rd session of the UNWTO General Assembly!

For the first time this major tourist forum will be held in Russian Federation. Our city was honored to be chosen to host the event.

Every year Saint Petersburg is receiving more and more guests, who are coming to enjoy the beauty of the city and visit our magnificent palaces, parks and theatres. Alongside our history and heritage, we are also busy developing other areas of our tourism sector, including events and conventions and health and wellbeing tourism.

The achievements of our city are traditionally held in high regard by the international community. In 2019 Saint Petersburg was considered «Europe’s Leading City Destination». Conducting the General Assembly session offers us the perfect opportunity to show the entire world the unique potential of our “Venice of the North” and other regions of the Russian Federation. 

Saint Petersburg has prepared extensively for this General Assembly. We will hold a number of meetings between representatives of the Russian Federation and our colleagues in tourism from around the world. Alongside this, we will offer our guests a full and eventful cultural program.

I wish everybody a successful and fruitful time here, and I hope you leave St Petersburg with useful new contacts and many happy memories of our city!

Acting Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov