I.Metshin: Kazan’s victory in Brand of the Year contest will attract visitors

(KZN.RU, April 16, by Taisiya Basharkina) Winning the “Brand of the Year / Effie 2011” competition will attract Russian and foreign tourists to Kazan, and dreams of a two millionth visitor to the capital of Tatarstan will become a reality. This hope was expressed by Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin at a City Hall Business Monday.

The Brand of the Year annual awards ceremony was held in Moscow April 12, which highlighted the most successful brand building projects. The capital of Tatarstan was represented by the brand "Kazan - the Sports Capital of Russia" and by the decision of the jury was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix.

“We have been promoting our brand - the city of Kazan - for years; this has been done to raise awareness of the city on domestic and international markets. We hope that this victory will attract visitors to our city and that in 2013, we’ll be able to welcome our two millionth visitor,” said the mayor.

As chairman of the Committee of Physical Culture and Sports of the Executive Committee of Kazan Ilgiz Fakhri put it, Kazan triumphantly went down in the history of the Brand of the Year contest. In fact, for the first time in history, it was not a product, a company or a service but rather a city that received the award. Previously, Grand Prix was awarded for Sochi’s victory in the bid to host the Olympic Games - the most significant event in the sporting life of the country.

As for Kazan’s project, the jury gave it the highest ratings. In 2011, the city held a series of events: starting with the children’s sports education programs, construction of world-class sports facilities, holding dozens of international tournaments and ending with the victorious bid to host the 2015World Cup in water sports.