FITUR 2019 opens its doors in Madrid

From 23 to 27 January, Madrid once again becomes the focus of attention of the international tourism community on the occasion of the celebration of FITUR, International Tourism Fair, organized by IFEMA. This year, the event grows both in participation and in internationalization, as well as new content.
An edition in which sustainability, specialization and technological progress, premises that also mark the transformation of the sector, are presented as the guiding thread of a highly qualified offer aimed at improving tourism management, professional contact, promotion of the destinations and the experiences of the traveler.
In this same line of good expectations, it is expected to exceed the 251,000 attendees of FITUR 2018, a record number that also includes the 140,120 professionals from around the world who received the last edition. In this regard, we must underline the strengthening of the international buyers program of FITUR, especially in regard to the MICE sector, with the launch of the new FITUR MITM - MICE & BUSINESS.
Figures that, in addition, will favor the economic impact generated by FITUR in the city, which is estimated to exceed 325 million euros, with a total number of hotels and the revitalization of sectors linked to tourism. Only the forecasts of the FESTITUR program, organized since 2015 by Noche Madrid, estimate that it will generate a turnover of 15 million euros, in the leisure, gastronomy and entertainment sector.

Fitur Observatory Next
In its vocation to innovate and offer value-added content to the international tourism community, FITUR has launched the Fitur Next Observatory, an initiative aimed at identifying trends in upcoming tourism and projecting those patterns and models of tourism that generate positive impact. both in the economic, social, cultural and environmental fields, as well as in the experience of visitors, residents, the development of destinations and the balance of the planet.
The project, to be developed in the next three years, seeks to involve companies, organizations, destinations ... in a global conversation that allows us to glimpse what are the challenges of present and future tourism.

B2B
Another of Fitur's axes are B2B meetings, with a structure aimed at promoting contacts and commercial exchanges. Among them, the Hosted Buyer Workshop, in which some 6,000 appointments were scheduled among 110 international buyers from 38 countries, invited by FITUR and 350 participating exhibitors and co-exhibitors.
To these appointments are added the B2B activities of Investur, the FITUR Health section, and as a novelty FITUR MITM - MICE, co-organized GSAR / MITM, which extends business opportunities to the tourism sector of incentives, meetings and business travel (Mice ). In total, it is estimated that more than 7,000 business meetings scheduled in this forum will be held.

Specialization
Fitur also continues advancing in the qualification of its offer with the incorporation of new vertical sectors that represent employment, business and growth for the tourism industry. This is the case of the new Fitur Cine monographic section, organized with the aim of connecting the film industry and tourism, in a common platform to promote destinations, promote visits to these places and show the potential of this phenomenon on the rise.
The progressive specialization of FITUR will also be reflected in the rest of the sections that make up the offer of the fair, with special emphasis this year in Fitur Festivals, and the new cultural bet Fitur is Music, a festival of urban and alternative music, organized in collaboration with Planet Events and Disorder, with the media support of Radio 3 and Mondo Sonoro, which will be held on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 of January, in Hall 1 of Feria de Madrid.

FiturtechY
As we talked a few days ago, this year there will be specialized offer to show how new technologies connect with our emotions, in the section FiturtechY 2019, organized in collaboration with the Hotel Technological Institute, ITH.
In addition, on 23, 24 and 25 January, the 7th edition of Fitur Know-How & Export, organized by SEGITTUR and FITUR, in collaboration with ICEX Spain Exportación e Inversiones, will present the simulation of an intelligent tourist destination, in which Technologies linked to digital transformation will be protagonists.
On the other hand, Fitur GAY (LGBT +) will count for the first time with the participations of the City of New York, Portugal and Thailand. On this occasion, and with the motto "50th Anniversary Stonewall New York", this space will present the most emblematic destinations of this segment of tourism, its novelties and products.
Finally, Fitur Salud will show the most up-to-date health tourism offer in its exhibition area, and will have a B2B meeting area; a B2C space and different conferences and round tables, especially focused on the spa sector and international experience.
The International Tourism Fair is also held in a context of growing global development for the sector. According to UNWTO figures, the destinations of the world received 1,000 million international tourists between January and September of last year, which means a growth of 5% compared to the same period of the previous year.
This year, FITUR brings together the participation of 886 regular exhibitors, representing an increase of 8.3% and 10,487 companies from 165 countries and regions.
The national presence grows 6%, and the international chapter, which already represents 55% of the participation share in FITUR, does so by 11%. In addition, FITUR 2019 adds more than a dozen new additions.