Vodohod company was recognized as the leader of the Russian cruise industry for 2022

The daily work of Vodohod team has been highly appreciated by the professional community for the third year in a row - we have been recognized as the leader of the Russian cruise industry once again! On 24 March 2023, the Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) awarded Vodohod team with the pennant "Industry Leader" in the nomination "The best shipping company engaged in tourist (cruise) transportation" for the successes achieved in 2022.

It is more difficult to retain trust and leadership than to win it once. Vodohod consistently maintains high quality of tour products and services in the cruise market, constantly expands the geography of routes and actively introduces innovative technologies in river navigation. To earn this award, we worked intensively in 2022 and implemented many interesting projects for our clients and for the development of the cruise industry as a whole:

- Vodohod launched expedition tours around Lake Baikal on a new Biryusa hovercraft, which was built by individual order of the company and was launched on the ice of Lake Baikal on February 10, 2022.  Last year 22 expedition tours were organized (8 tours in winter, 14 tours in summer). More than 300 tourists visited two coasts of Baikal at once - in the Irkutsk region and in the Republic of Buryatia, visiting more than 20 unique locations. In 2023, 12 winter expedition tours have already taken place and 21 tours are planned for the summer. The summer schedule of Baikal Expedition includes an exclusive tour in the Baikal Active concept with a trekking excursion and accommodation in a glamping site on the shore of the ancient lake.

- To develop children's and youth tourism, we cooperated productively with the Organization "Russia - Land of Opportunities" and the Ministries of Education of Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd and Astrakhan Regions. More than 2000 participants of the youth program and schoolchildren visited 17 Russian cities on Vodohod ships.

- In 2022 Vodohod opened new ports of call and in 2023 navigation offers 4 new cruise stops: Zavidovo in Tver region, Yurievets in Ivanovo region, Vyborg in Leningrad region and Sarapul in the Republic of Udmurtia.

- The four-deck ship Alexander Pushkin visited Ufa for the first time. 146 guests with the company Vodohod appreciated Bashkir hospitality during a 2-day stay in Ufa. In 2023 we offer 4 cruises to the capital of the Republic of Bashkiria on ships of different classes: Mustai Karim (Vodohod.Lux), ship Alexander Pushkin (Vodohod.Premium) and ship Konstantin Fedin (Vodohod.Light). You can go to the cruise to Ufa only in early May from Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan.

- Vodohod signed an Agreement with the Government of Perm Krai on the development of river tourism in the Kama region and an Agreement on cooperation on tourism development with the Government of Irkutsk Oblast.

- Vodohod participated in all stages of the state program Tourist Cashback program , providing tourists with an opportunity to buy a river cruise at a profit and appreciate a new type of recreation within the country.  The growth of new customers who tried cruise vacations for the first time amounted to 30%.

- We continue the digitalization of the river industry and develop convenient technologies and services to make it easy for customers of all ages to buy cruises in a personal account on vodohod.com. In 2022, 47% of all cruises sold were booked online. With effectively built remote customer interactions, more members of the older generation are trusting online shopping when choosing a cruise vacation.

- In February 2022, the branded mobile application Vodohod.River Cruises was registered as a computer program - VDH.Mobile. The branded app Vodohod.River Cruises, developed in 2020, is actively used by tourists to order services on board, listen to audio excursions, and watch movies from the media library. 30% of passengers on board regularly use mobile services and their number is growing every season. Operation of mobile information portals VDH.Mobile was carried out last year on 17 ships of the company. In the navigation season of 2023 the branded application will be available on all 24 ships of the company. Vodohod offers to use the new information and entertainment platform for hotels, airlines, Russian Railways and other interested participants of the tourism and recreational sphere.

- To promote river cruising in 2022, together with the Department of Culture of Moscow Vodohod organized a photo exhibition "Discovering Russia from a motor ship" in 3 parks of Moscow. In summer 2023 the photo exhibition is planned in 5 parks of the capital.

Vodohod would like to thank Rosmorrechflot for the high appraisal! For us, as an Industry Leader, the main priority remains the same - comfort and convenience of passengers, care about their high-quality rest and safety.