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OTDYKH Leisure to mark 25 years of success

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OTDYKH Leisure

OTDYKH Leisure is back September 10-12 2019 with its 25th edition of the world-renowned travel expo. The expo will showcase an impressive 900 exhibitors from over 80 countries and Russian regions, providing a fantastic opportunity for international companies in the travel industry looking to tap-in to the flourishing and lucrative Russian travel market.

The Russian tourist industry has faced a difficult few years due a number of factors including the 2014 devaluation of the Russian ruble which increased foreign travel costs by over 20%. However, government statistics show that Russian outbound tourism has grown exponentially and has now almost reached peak pre-crisis levels, with Russian travellers making close to 40,000 trips abroad in 2017.


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Turkey has firmly regained its position as Russia’s favourite tourist destination with the number of visitors rising by 25% in 2018. In 2017 alone, Turkey received 4.72 million Russian visitors, with total statistics for 2018 expected to stand at six million.

Other top tourist destinations for Russian holiday-makers include Greece, Cyprus, Tunisia, Spain, Italy, France and the United Arab Emirates.

Domestic tourism also heavily increased last year when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup. An estimated seven million tourists visited Russia from hundreds of countries all over the world, strengthening Russia’s international profile and breathing new life into the country’s tourism industry.

At the heart of the Russian travel industry, and a major driving-force behind the growth in the market is the annual world-renowned OTDYKH fair, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The name OTDYKH means “leisure”, and since the expo’s inception that has been the focal point of the annual event. The OTDYKH Leisure trade fair was founded in 1994 in order to facilitate networking between businesses and representatives in the tourism industry, and to showcase the potential in the Russian market. In 2008 the OTDYKH Leisure trade fair was awarded a Quality Label by the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF), cementing its status as Russia’s leading travel and tourism event.

Last year’s expo was a resounding success with over 38,000 visitors over the three days, and 287 media attendees from 80 media partners, expertly combining the B2B areas of Leisure Travel, Medical, Spa and Health Tourism and Luxury Travel including Gourmet & Wine tourism.

The Dominican Republic – a major winter holiday destination with over 240,000 Russian tourists visiting in 2017 – were the proud partners of the 2018 OTDYKH leisure trade fair. The Ministry of Tourism for the Dominican Republic and thirteen co-exhibitors hosted a 200m² stand (twice the size of 2017) delighting visitors with a series of cultural and artistic performances, traditional music, dances and Caribbean cuisine.

This year the expo promises dozens of exciting events across multiple conference halls, hundreds of expert guest speakers and thousands of visitors from across the travel industry.

Exhibitors are invited to participate and celebrate the 2019 OTDYKH Leisure trade fair and celebrate 25 years of the expo’s continued success. Early-bird offers are available on a first-come-first serve basis to those looking to get involved in this extraordinary event, a veritable cornerstone of the Russian travel industry.

New passenger record achieved at FRA

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FRAPORTFRAPORT

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served more than 69.5 million passengers in 2018, thus posting a new record high in the airport’s history.

Compared to 2017, traffic at Germany’s largest airport grew by some 5 million passengers or 7.8 percent. This strong growth resulted from the launch of more routes to new destinations from FRA and from airlines increasing flight frequencies.

Commenting on the 2018 traffic figures, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman Stefan Schulte said: “The previous year has proved once again that there continues to be great demand for flying. In Frankfurt, we have achieved the highest absolute passenger growth in our history. This underscores Frankfurt Airport’s position as one of Europe’s leading aviation hubs. At the same time, the extraordinary growth in air traffic overall has caused major challenges for us and the entire aviation sector. Together with our partners, we are taking efforts to restore and enhance punctuality and reliability in air

traffic.”

In full-year 2018, aircraft movements at FRA rose by 7.7 percent to 512,115 takeoffs and landings in 2018. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) also increased by 5.1 percent to some 31.6 million metric tons. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) posted a slight 0.7 percent decline to about 2.2 million metric tons, reflecting growing uncertainties in global trade, particularly during the second half of the year.

In December 2018, more than 4.9 million passengers traveled via Frankfurt Airport – an increase of 7.8 percent compared to December 2017. Aircraft movements climbed by 9.0 percent to 38,324 takeoffs and landings, while accumulated MTOWs grew by 6.5 percent to about 2.4 million metric tons. Cargo throughput (airmail + airfreight) expanded by 1.9 percent to 183,674 metric tons in the reporting month.

Airports in Fraport’s international portfolio also reported noticeable growth in 2018. CEO Schulte commented: “In addition to Frankfurt, most of our Group airports worldwide also achieved new passenger records last year. We continue to invest in the airports of our international portfolio, thus ensuring their long-term development. To create additional capacity, we are currently carrying out major expansion projects at our Group airports, particularly in Greece, Brazil and Peru.”

In Slovenia, Ljubljana Airport (LJU) posted a 7.7 percent traffic increase to over 1.8 million passengers in 2018. Combined traffic at the two Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) rose by 7.0 percent to some 14.9 million passengers. Traffic at the 14 Greek regional airports advanced by 8.9 percent to a total of almost 29.9 million passengers. The three busiest gateways in Fraport’s Greek portfolio were Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) with some 6.7 million passengers (up 7.1 percent), Rhodes Airport (RHO) witharound 5.6 million passengers (up 5.0 percent), and Corfu Airport (CFU) where traffic soared by 15.3 percent to nearly 3.4 million passengers.

Lima Airport (LIM) in the capital of Peru welcomed more than 22.1 million passengers in 2018, representing an increase of 7.3 percent.

On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) closed the year with combined traffic growth of 12.2 percent to about 5.6 million passengers. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey saw traffic advance by 22.5 percent to almost 32.3 million passengers. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia served more than 18.1 million passengers – an increase of 12.4 percent. Some 44.7 million passengers used Xi’an Airport (XIY) inChina, up 6.7 percent.

Fraport Traffic Figures November 2018: Growth Trend Continues

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Frankfurt Airport welcomed around 5.24 million passengers in November

2018, a growth of 4.7 percent year-on-year. This development was

driven by European traffic (up 6.1 percent) as well as

intercontinental traffic (up 4.3 percent). The cumulative growth in

passenger numbers for the first eleven months of the current year was

7.8 percent.

In a similar vein, aircraft movements in November increased by 5.3

percent to 41,192 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff

weights (MTOWs) rose by 3.3 percent to around 2.5 million metric

tons. Only the cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) declined in

November, falling by 2.1 percent to around 196,537 million metric

tons in response to the growing uncertainty in global trade.

The international airports in Fraport’s portfolio also enjoyed

largely positive development in November. While Ljubljana Airport

(LJU) in Slovenia saw a slight decline of 3.3 percent to 117,554

passengers, the Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto

Alegre (POA) reported significant growth of 10.8 percent to around

1.3 million passengers. The 14 regional airports in Greece saw an

overall growth of 12.8 percent to 726,159 passengers. The three

airports in the Greek portfolio with the most traffic were

Thessaloniki (SKG) with 428,897 passengers (up 16.6 percent), Rhodes

(RHO) with 68,041 passengers (minus 9.7 percent to) and Chania (CHQ)

with 59,053 passengers (up 14.6 percent). Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru

grew by 6.7 percent to about 1.8 million passengers. A total of

68,246 passengers used the Bulgarian Twin Star airports of Varna

(VAR) and Burgas (BOJ), down 6.8 percent. Antalya Airport (AYT) again

enjoyed substantial growth of 26.9 percent to around 1.2 million

passengers. Growing passenger numbers were also reported at Pulkovo

Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg with around 1.3 million passengers

(up 18.1 percent) and Xi’an (XIY) in China with around 3.6 million

passengers (up 4.8 percent)

Fraport Greece begins 40-year concession at 14 Greek regional airports

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The Greek state received EUR1.234 billion in an upfront payment, to which Fraport Greece will further invest about EUR400 million for improving and expanding the airports’ infrastructure by 2021. The focus will be on enhancing facilities, operational processes, and the passenger experience. This will be the single largest expansion of Fraport Group’s international airport portfolio, says CEO Schulte.

Fraport Greece (73.4 percent owned by the Frankfurt based airport operator Fraport AG and 26.6 percent by Copelouzos Group) today commenced the 40-year concession for managing and developing 14 regional airports on the Greek mainland and popular holiday islands – a mammoth investment for the country’s infrastructure and economically vital tourism sector.  Following the operational transfer of the airports, Fraport Greece today paid the upfront concession fee of EUR1.234 billion – the biggest concession fee in Greece’s history – to the state-owned Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF). Along with this upfront fee, an annual fixed concession fee of EUR22.9 million will be paid to the Greek State, as well as a variable annual fee based on 28.5 percent of Fraport Greece’s yearly operational profit (EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization).  Actual ownership of the airports is retained by Greece.

Dr. Stefan Schulte, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman explained: “Since being selected as the winning bidder for the Greek Regional Airports in 2014, we have remained steadfastly committed to this visionary project. We believe in Greece and its potential as one of the greatest travel destinations in the world.  The goal of Fraport Greece is to enhance the travel experience for visitors from around the world – by upgrading and expanding facilities and by improving operational processes, shopping and services. Today is a great day for Greece and its people.  It is also an important day for us because Fraport Greece is the single largest expansion of our airport portfolio and a milestone in further growing our international business.”

Currently, Fraport generates more than 20 percent of its annual revenue through its portfolio of international airports and subsidiaries, bundled in the company’s External Activities & Services business segment.  With the operational transfer of the Greek airports, the Fraport Group will significantly enlarge its international activities, further broaden its worldwide footprint and reduce dependency on the development in single regions or markets.

The 14 Greek regional airports served a total of 25.3 million passengers in 2016, an increase by nine percent year-on-year.
Fraport Greece will operate, manage and develop the airports over the next four decades – with responsibility for aviation as well as non-aviation areas.  The mainland airports include Aktion (PVK), Kavala (KVA) and Thessaloniki (SKG), Greece’s second largest city.

The eleven island airports are located in Kerkyra/Corfu (CFU), Chania/Crete (CHQ), Kefalonia (EFL), Kos (KGS), Mytilene/Lesvos (MJT), Mykonos (JMK), Rhodes (RHO), Samos (KGS), Santorini (JTR), Skiathos (JSI) and Zakynthos (ZTH).

Alexander Zinell, Fraport Greece’s CEO, emphasized: “Today marks the beginning of a new era for the 14 Greek regional airports.  Within only twelve months we have created Fraport Greece, a world-class airport operator with over 500 highly motivated staff eager to move each of the 14 airports forward into the future. We will develop and manage the airports for the benefit of passengers and airlines – for all stakeholders. These mainland and island gateways will act as a catalyst of growth for Greek tourism as well as other industries. Well-managed airports have been proven to serve as dynamic economic engines for their regions.  We appreciate the outstanding support received throughout Greece and look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

Under the concession agreement, Fraport Greece will be investing about EUR400 million for improving and expanding the airports’ infrastructure over the next 48 months.  Hence, Fraport Greece recently signed an agreement with the Greek-based Intrakat construction and engineering company to refurbish, expand and build new facilities at the 14 airports – including five new passenger terminals.  In subsequent years, Fraport Greece will make investments for maintenance and demand-driven capacity expansions.

Approximately EUR1 billion in long-term financing for the Greek Regional Airports project is being provided by a consortium of leading financial institutions. Some EUR280.4 million of the total loan will be used to finance construction projects at the 14 airports, while EUR688 million will be used as part of the upfront concession payment to HRADF. Fraport Greece recently raised its total equity capital to EUR650 million.

For further information about Fraport AG please click here: http://ots.de/OlNxn