April 27, a press conference was held on the results of the application campaign for the new season of the competition Masters of Hospitality, a project of the presidential platform “Russia is a country of opportunities.” The platform's CEO Alexei Komissarov, organizers, mentors and participants of the project of past seasons spoke about its results, leading regions, regional forums and new participants. The event was held in the format of a guided tour through the unique space of VDNH museum and exhibition projects.
“Masters of Hospitality” is a competition for talented and enterprising specialists in the hospitality industry, aimed at creating favorable conditions for their development, raising service standards and the prestige of professions in the fields of tourism and hospitality, and staffing the industry. During the competition, in addition to the knowledge and competencies of the participants, their author's projects in the field of hospitality are evaluated. The best of them receive support and are implemented in the regions of Russia.
The Masters of Hospitality approached the press conference creatively, deciding to demonstrate their hospitality and give the participants of the event an interesting tour of the unique space of VDNKh museum and exhibition projects. Afterwards, in an informal atmosphere, the participants discussed innovations, directions and opportunities of the project that it gives to the participants, recalled the bright stories of previous seasons, shared their expectations.
“On March 12, we launched the application campaign for the new season of the Masters of Hospitality competition, and today we are summing up its results. We have received more than 36,000 applications, which is 7,000 more than last year. This once again speaks of the desire of Russians to develop domestic tourism, confirms the great interest in the competition of both representatives of the hospitality industry and those who are taking the first steps in this direction. Among the registered participants are from all 85 regions and 689 cities of our country. Almost half of the applications came from the Central Federal District. The most active participants were from Moscow and the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Republic of Bashkortostan, Perm Territory, Novosibirsk and Sverdlovsk Regions, Stavropol Territory. We look forward to the face-to-face stages in order to personally get to know our participants. I would like to wish everyone enthusiasm, inspiration, new interesting acquaintances and, of course, success!”, said Aleksey Komissarov, General Director of the Russia – Land of Opportunities platform.
He also noted that this year in the direction of “Startups and breakthrough ideas” applications for participation could be submitted by foreign citizens. Residents of 29 foreign countries have been registered.
“The main thing in the Masters of Hospitality competition is people! Our team includes interesting, creative, bright participants from different parts of the country who are burning with the idea of developing domestic tourism. In the questionnaires of participants, we see breakthrough ideas. For example, author's excursions with VR-technologies, mobile applications for tourists, tourism products designed for different categories of people, extreme cases and routes adapted for people with special needs.
I am glad that a large number of young people are registered in the competition: about 64% of participants are under 35 years old. Among them are young entrepreneurs and tour operators, restaurateurs and hoteliers, event managers who already offer their guests an interesting modern tourism product. In addition, the competition brings together people with fresh ideas, who are taking their first steps in the field of tourism, who want to gain new knowledge and express themselves. This means that the hospitality industry is getting younger, there are more original creative ideas, new solutions that attract our tourists to different parts of Russia”, – emphasized the head of the “Masters of Hospitality” competition Bogdan Kondratov.< /p>
The project leader shared the story of the most experienced participant who applied for the new season of the competition. This is 76-year-old Nikolai Shepil from the Belgorod region. He has been working in the tourism industry for over 15 years. He develops a craft that has passed a thousand-year history – basket weaving. Nikolai Semenovich conducts master classes on making products from bent and wicker vines for those who wish.
Throughout all stages of the competition, participants will be supported by mentors – industry leaders, eminent restaurateurs, hoteliers and hospitality managers, as well as representatives of government authorities. Vadim Prasov, Vice-President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, competition mentor
“Participating as a mentor is a big challenge. There are many participants in the competition, many projects. You need to concentrate and immerse yourself in each. Participants are waiting for an objective opinion, worry, worry. Motivating and helping them is a big responsibility. There are situations when the participant's product itself is strong and interesting, but there are difficulties with its presentation. At this stage, it is important to help a person get out of a state of excitement so that he can easily and clearly talk about his project. Someone, on the contrary, has difficulties with the content and it is necessary to correct the logic. There are indeed many tasks.
I wish the participants of the new season a sincere desire to become better. I believe that all those who decided to take part won, because this is a chance to become better in the profession that you have already chosen or are looking at. There is always a lot of communication at the competition, a lot of cool emotions. Friends, use these opportunities to the fullest! And we, the mentors, will try to help as much as possible!”, – said Vadim Prasov.
Now the participants have to go through several stages: remote testing (April 22 – May 16, 2022), face-to-face semi-finals (June-July 2022) and the final of the competition (September 2022). At the start of the bidding campaign, a competition was announced among the regions for holding face-to-face stages. More than 30 applications were received from Russian regions, including the Chelyabinsk Region, Krasnodar Territory, Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Regions, the Chuvash Republic and other regions. The dates of the in-person stages and the regions where the events will be held will be announced by the organizers in the near future.
The finalists of the first and second seasons of the competition spoke about their success in the hospitality industry and how the competition has changed their lives.
“Competition is a springboard with a jump into a favorable environment. If you do, and not just look from the outside, then there will be results. And what the environment will be depends on the person himself, because it is people who form the environment. The “Masters of Hospitality” project expanded the scope of my activity, gave me an understanding that I was doing my own business, despite its low profitability and high risks in relation to many other types of activities. I found like-minded people who can help me in any region. I advise new participants to look wider, if you see an opportunity – take it and do it! And most importantly – Always remain human and do not forget what the word hospitality means!”, – said the winner of the competition 2019 – 2020, mentor of the “Future of Tourism” direction Galina Pozdnyakova.
“Participation in the competition is a good opportunity to study, work and travel, as well as to realize oneself! The project brings together educated and enthusiastic people. I am sure that each region of Russia has its own unique traditions and places of power that you can go to thanks to the competition, the realization of an idea and a dream!”, – said the semi-finalist of the 2020-2021 competition, Ambassador of Hospitality in the Moscow Region Irina Zuntova.
“For me and my team, Masters was a new start. In recent years, the competition has gathered such a strong community that today it is possible to start initiatives in any region. And a helping hand will be extended to you everywhere. The participants of the new season would like to wish an easy road on the way to the top. Everything is just beginning, all that remains is to work,” says the winner of the youth direction of the “Masters of Hospitality. Students” 2020-2021, Ambassador of Hospitality in the Voronezh Region Alexander Aksyutin.
“Participation in the project definitely gives you the opportunity to test yourself and your competencies, find like-minded people, expand your professional circle of acquaintances, gain new knowledge and experience”, says the winner of the 2019-2020 competition. Victoria Rashina.
“Masters of hospitality are clean, open people with incredible enthusiasm, eyes burning for what they love and a great desire to make the hospitality industry really cool! I am grateful for the competition! Now I have friends in almost every part of our big country! It is difficult to call this competition a “competition”. You are in a real family! I would like to appeal to the participants of the new season: do not be afraid of difficulties, do not worry before defending projects. Just remember that perhaps it is your idea or project that will bring the tourism industry to a new, high level! And how great it will be to be a part of such a big event! Only forward!”, – shared the winner of the 2020-2021 contest, Ambassador of Hospitality in Moscow Ksenia Rozinko.
“Congratulations to everyone who decided to participate in the competition. For some, this can be, I’m not afraid of high words, a fateful decision! “Masters of Hospitality” means new contacts, friends, professional communities, emotions and knowledge! And, more importantly, it's the changes that take place inside you: changes in thinking, positive stress that you experience in the process of competitive tasks. After each stage, you are already a slightly different person. The scale of thinking, horizons, adaptability, focus on results, determination are changing,” – said the finalist of the 2019-2020 competition. Vladislav Myakota.
The Masters of Hospitality competition is one of the federal instruments aimed at the development of our vast country! It is this project that makes it possible to develop steadily in the direction of hospitality! For me, he opened the doors to federal organizations such as Rostourism and the Russian Geographical Society. And already this year, together with the Russian Geographical Society, we are laying a tour route in Chukotka,” says Vasily Shefer, finalist of the 2020-2021 competition, Ambassador of Hospitality in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
“Participation in the competition gave impetus to the development of their own initiatives. Before, I tried to get involved in existing projects, but now I enjoy working on personal ideas. The number of events where you can both grow professionally and share your experience has also increased. The project “Masters of Hospitality” is one of them, so I decided to reapply for the competition! I want to wish the Masters of the new season, including myself, to set extraordinary and creative tasks for themselves, pass all the tests and implement their own initiatives,” shared the semi-finalist of the youth direction of the “Masters of Hospitality. Students” 2020 – 2021 Ksenia Chernykh.
In the new season, the participants of the “Masters of Hospitality” competition will try their hand at 4 directions: “Hospitality industry managers” for tourism industry professionals, “Startups and breakthrough ideas in tourism” for talented professionals with the idea of tourism startups, “Territorial development” for promising personnel with proposals for the development of tourism in the regions of Russia, “The Future of Tourism” for students with a socially oriented project. The organizers prepared interesting tests and bright tasks for the participants, and representatives of the region's tourism community and even those who are just looking at the hospitality industry will be able to take part in the face-to-face stages, along with the masters. You will only need to leave an application.
Depending on the directions, the winners will be able to receive grants for education or advanced training of their employees, support in the implementation of business projects from partners, job offers, the opportunity to become participants in the mentoring program, bonuses and gifts from partners of the competition, students will receive grants of up to 1.5 million rubles for the implementation of non-profit projects and the opportunity to undergo specialized internships. It is important that the Masters will have the opportunity to become part of the human resources potential of the Russian hospitality industry.