The Energy of a Siberian summer: The Dikorosy Hospitality Forum brings together 149,000 guests from 50 Russian regions and 7 countries

The Dikorosy Siberian Hospitality Forum has concluded in the Novosibirsk Region. It was held in the region’s capital from 9 to 12 July. The event was designed to be as open and accessible as possible, both for residents and tourists and for industry professionals. It brought together an exhibition programme in the centre of Novosibirsk (on Lenin Street), a business component held in the conference halls of the Domina hotel, and the ‘Letosfera’ (‘Summersphere’) Festival, held with the support of the Tourism and Hospitality national project.

The Dikorosy Forum is a networking event of the ‘Let’s Travel!’ International Tourism Forum, the industry’s flagship event, organized by the Roscongress Foundation. The Dikorosy Forum was organized by the Government of the Novosibirsk Region, the regional Ministry of Economic Development, the Novosibirsk City Administration, and the Gastronomic Map of Russia project.

Svetlana Sharpf, Minister of Economic Development of the Novosibirsk Region, noted: “Our shared task is to make domestic tourism high-quality, diverse, and accessible, so that every guest wants to return to Siberia again and again. We have seen strong interest from industry professionals in the Forum, and the exhibition and concert programmes became a genuine celebration for residents of the city and the region. Over four days, 149,000 people visited the Forum’s venues, with participants from 50 regions and 7 countries across Asia and Africa.” 

The business component of the Dikorosy Forum featured 29 expert discussions on tourism industry trends, accompanied by practical activities, with the agenda organized around seven key tracks: sustainable domestic tourism, ecological footprint and digitalization, creative industries and ethnic heritage, regional gastronomic brands, ethical and inclusive service, place marketing, and children's and youth tourism, along with sessions on medical, industrial, popular science, and inclusive tourism, among others. 

At the open-air venue near the Pobeda Cultural and Leisure Centre, exhibition avenues showcased regions, craftspeople, and tourism industry representatives – more than 40 exhibitors in total, including guests from St. Petersburg, Dagestan, the Khabarovsk Territory, the Pskov Region, and regions of the Siberian Federal District. Visitors were able to explore the tourism opportunities of different corners of Russia, discover new routes, and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a major event dedicated to travel. 

A Novosibirsk Region stand operated on the street stage near the Pobeda cinema, hosting regional presentations, performances by creative ensembles, educational talks, and evening events. Masterclasses on banya steaming rituals, a Siberian musical bingo game, and the “Slowest Snail Race” drew particular public interest. Alongside this, the Forum’s creative programme was complemented by the ‘Letosfera’ Festival, whose most attended events were concerts by the popular performers IOWA and Dabro. The festival’s centrepiece was a grand carnival procession bringing together students from Russia and African countries, fashion bloggers and models, representatives of the creative industries, sports club members, 2026 school graduates, staff from tourist information centres across different regions, and mascots from Novosibirsk’s professional teams and carnival studios.

Events within the special ‘Dikorosy: Gastronomic Map of Russia’ track received a particularly strong response, showcasing dishes of Russian cuisine and the national cuisines of Russia's peoples. Gastronomic shows and tastings were held at the open-air venue, hosted by chefs and restaurateurs from regions spanning the Far East to the Arctic: ‘Russian Breakfast’, ‘Bride’s Blini’, ‘Polar Explorer’s Kit’, ‘Siberian Tea Party’, Arctic delicacies, cold soups, Buryat and Chaldon cuisine, and other culinary stories from across Russia. 

“We presented 44 dishes and held 12 masterclasses with chefs from the Kamchatka Territory, Yakutia, Buryatia, and other regions. It is very important that at the Dikorosy Forum we talk about state support for the development and promotion of Russian cuisine and the cuisines of Russia’s peoples,” added Ekaterina Shapovalova, creator of the Gastronomic Map of Russia project and curator of the House of Russian Cuisine at VDNH. 

The Forum concluded with the signing of memoranda and agreements, including an investment project for the development of the Chkalovskiye Dachi eco-park in the Zaeltsovsky pine forest (with investment exceeding RUB 5 billion), as well as interregional tourism agreements between the Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Tomsk Regions.

“The Dikorosy Forum is a creative space. As part of it, we awarded the winners of competitions in various tourism categories. The Maslyaninsky Municipal District emerged as the outright winner, presenting the most creative stand,” reported Svetlana Sharpf. 

In his Address to the Federal Assembly, the President of the Russian Federation set the goal of increasing tourist flow to 140 million people per year and raising tourism’s share of GDP to 5%. The regional tourism development programme and federal funding allocated under the Tourism and Hospitality national project are contributing to the achievement of these goals.