Why Ekaterinburg

Ekaterinburg is the capital of the Urals, one of the most dynamic regions in Russia. It offers a wide range of business and recreation opportunities. The city has a unique geographic location on the border separating Europe from Asia. Guests of Ekaterinburg point out that it is a modern European city bordering with Asia.

Ekaterinburg plays an increasingly active role on the meeting industry market. The number of events held more than doubles every year.

In the last years a number of large-scale events were held in Ekaterinburg, such as:

• The Congress of World Federation of UNESCO Associations and Clubs
• European meetings of World Trade Centres
• The International Conference on Investment in Russia and the Sverdlovsk Region arranged by the Sverdlovsk Region Government in cooperation with the London Stock Exchange
• VIII Meeting of sister cities in Russia and Germany
• The VII Party Congress of United Russia
• The European-Asian Congress on Law “Legal Integration of the Region in the Age of Globalisation”
• as well as numerous professional conferences, congresses and symposia.

Congress facilities in the city are ready to host large-scale congress events; State-of-the-art conference halls can seat up to 2,000 people.

The Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Ekaterinburg in summer 2009.

Convention Faсilities

The total estimated capacity of halls in Yekaterinburg currently providing quality services for congresses is 15,000 seats. In 2008-2009 places for 10,000 congress participants will be created.

Quality facilities for both small-scale events (up to 50 persons) and large-scale forums and symposia (over 1,000 persons) are available in Ekaterinburg. Meeting organizers can choose an appropriate conference hall from a variety of available facilities: a comfortable congress hotel, a state-of-the-art congress centre, or a cosy quiet hotel and conference centre in the country.

The hospitality industry in Ekaterinburg offers the full range of accompanying services: restaurants offering cuisine to suit every taste, hotels, various museums, and tourist programs where you will be accompanied by professional guides speaking your language. Bright and vibrant night life in Ekaterinburg offers an experience that visitors will long remember.

Readily available information on facilities in the city is important. Non-profit partnership “Ekaterinburg Convention Bureau" provides free advice on how to organize and conduct meetings in Ekaterinburg as well as on issues concerning participation in various events. Ekaterinburg Tourist Information Service helps navigate through the choice of hotels, tourist programs, restaurants and other services you may need during your stay in Ekaterinburg.

Business tourism is a priority in development of Ekaterinburg, since over 85% of tourists visit the city in order to participate in some kind of a business event. Annual growth in numbers of business tourists amounts to 25-30 %, of foreign business tourists up to 70%.

That being said, the Urals also boasts a unique combination of the rich historical heritage and magnificent nature. Here are some of the most interesting tourist programs:

• Various guided tours around the Urals: To the birthplace of a renowned Urals author Pavel Bazhov, to the Orthodox centre of the Urals the town of Verkhoturye, to the ancestral lands of Akinfy Demidov, the town of Nevyansk, with a visit to the famous leaning tower, to the Sinyachikha museum, a reserve of wooden architecture, and other sites.
• A trip to the border between Europe and Asia, offering a unique opportunity to stand with one foot in Europe and with the other one in Asia; getting to know the nature in the Urals, the history of the Great Siberian (Moscow) Route and settlements located along the Route.
• A visit to the Cathedral-on-the-Blood, which marks the spot where the family of the last Russian Tsar was assassinated, and to the unique monastery erected on the site of the notorious Ganina Pit in the Four Brothers mine. The monastery has 7 wooden churches, each being consecrated to one of the members of the royal family.
• Ekaterinburg as a centre of stone-carving: A visit to the geological alley with samples of rocks, to the Museum of stone-carving history, to the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, where the unique Kasli cast iron pavilion is displayed.
• General tours around Ekaterinburg along with a unique chance to see the city from the bird's eye view standing at the viewing platform of the Antey shopping and entertainment centre.

Ecotourism – visiting the pearl of the Urals, a natural park of spectacular beauty Deer Streams (Olenyi Ruchi), rafting on catamarans down the river, rock-climbing at the Seven Brothers cliffs, etc.