Great participation in CIMET, the meeting of Ibero-American tourism ministers at IFEMA MADRID

Yesterday, on the eve of the opening of FITUR 2025, IFEMA MADRID hosted the 28th Ibero-American Conference of Tourism Ministers and Entrepreneurs, CIMET 2025, which was also attended by Rosario Sánchez Grau, Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain, Héctor Coronel, Director General of Tourism of the Madrid City Council, Daniel Martínez, Executive Vice President of IFEMA Madrid, and Arancha Priede, General Director of Trade Fair and Congress Business of IFEMA Madrid, along with numerous other representatives of the public and private tourism sector. 

The 45th edition of FITUR, the International Tourism Fair, organised by IFEMA MADRID and with Brazil as a Partner Country, starts today 22nd and will be held until 26th January.

During his speech, Daniel Martínez, Executive Vice President of IFEMA MADRID, highlighted that “CIMET once again underlines the valuable contribution that the Ibero-American presence has at our International Tourism Fair, which this year is headed by Brazil, our Partner Country in 2025. At IFEMA MADRID we are very proud of the role that FITUR plays for the nations of Ibero-America, and we deeply appreciate their renewed trust throughout the 45 editions of the fair.”

For her part, Rosario Sánchez Grau, Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain, assured that “the tourism sector is strategic for the Spanish economy, since it is a main driver of the same and contributes significantly to the entry of foreign currency.” And she recalled that “with the beginning of FITUR, Madrid becomes the world capital of tourism.” Sánchez Grau pointed out that “2024 has been a very favorable year for the global tourism industry, which has recovered the flow of tourists prior to the pandemic.” She added that “the leadership of Spanish tourism has been consolidated by registering in 2024 a tourist expenditure of 126,000 million euros, 16% more than in 2023, and the arrival of 94 million international visitors, 10% more.” According to her, these data confirm that “we are moving towards a more diversified tourism project, in line with the policies promoted by the government and with the public-private collaboration strategy.”

Madrid, world capital of tourism with FITUR

Héctor Coronel, Director General of Tourism for Madrid City Council, emphasised that “Madrid is becoming the world capital of tourism this week, with a record number of countries participating in FITUR”. In addition, Madrid “is also the capital of culture with some of the most important museums, theatres, festivals and concerts; the best destination in the world for congresses and conventions; the second most important city in terms of hotel investment, especially in luxury hotels; and the world capital of audiovisuals, sport and gastronomy; in addition, we have climbed from position 47 to 2 as the best urban destination in the world”.

Arancha Priede, General Manager of Trade Fair and Congress Business at IFEMA Madrid, explained that the current edition of FITUR “confirms not only the tourism industry’s capacity for transformation, but also its drive and determination to continue growing in a sustainable way.” And, in this sense, she added that “Ibero-America occupies a priority place in our strategy, as demonstrated by the countless synergies that we have been building over the years with countries in the region.” Thus, “in this edition we have the official participation of more than 20 countries from Ibero-America, highlighting the special presence of Brazil as a FITUR 2025 Partner.”

CIMET is an annual conference organised by the NEXO Group, held under the honorary presidency of Felipe VI, in collaboration with CEOE, IFEMA MADRID and FITUR. This morning's meeting was attended by Ministers from 14 Latin American countries: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, who explained the tourism investment opportunities in each of these countries. In addition, the President of CIMET and the NEXO Group, and Director of InvesTurAmerica, Eugenio de Quesada, presented the Digital Platform for the Internationalisation of Spanish Tourism SMEs in Latin America "investuramerica.com".

Spain: a magnet for tourists, investment and talent

The opening of CIMET was also attended by business representatives, such as Juan Molas, President of the Tourism Board of Spain, who highlighted “the great relationship between Spain and the Ibero-American countries” and encouraged them to “fix their gaze even more strongly towards Europe and Spain”.

Jorge Marichal, President of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, stated that “tourism plays a fundamental role in society, the economy and sustainability”; and added that “Spain is a country that attracts not only tourists, but also investments and talent”. In his opinion, “tourism is a driver of economic and social growth shared between Spain and Latin America”; and “we must move forward in strengthening key areas such as sustainability, innovation and talent retention” between both territories.

Carlos Garrido de la Cierva, President of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV), expressed his conviction that, after the period of crisis, travel agencies “have re-emerged”, as shown by the latest figures on the sector's turnover, which has reached 30 billion euros. He also explained “the importance of the Ibero-American market for agencies”.

Víctor Moneo, Director of Strategic Alliances and Agreements of the Iberia Group, recalled that “CIMET has become the traditional kick-off for FITUR, one of the major events in the tourism sector every year”. He also reported that “more than 80% of the 94 million tourists who visited Spain in 2024 arrived in our country by plane, which highlights aviation as one of the main enablers of an industry that contributes greatly to the economic development of countries and helps generate prosperity for the different communities”.

Juan Carlos González, CEO and General Manager of Ávoris Corporación Empresarial, said that “this group is fully committed to Latin America, and we are becoming increasingly stronger as a tourist-issuing group linking Europe with Latin America.” He also focused on “innovation and sustainability.”

Miguel Mirones, President of the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality and Sustainability (ICTES), has made himself available to the entire tourism sector to help boost its “quality and sustainability”, two elements “that must govern all its policies and strategies”.

Rodrigo Esponda, General Director of Promotion for Los Cabos (Baja California Sur), spoke about the interesting proposals that this destination offers. He also said that “Spain is going through a period of sustained growth and travelers from this country are looking for sophisticated experiences, in which culture and contact with nature are very important.”

Quality and sustainability

During the day, several panel discussions were held with the Ministers of Tourism of Ibero-America, with the participation of Daniel Scioli, Minister of Tourism of Argentina; Juan Oswaldo Manrique Camargo, Vice Minister of Tourism of Colombia; William Rodríguez López, Minister of Tourism of Costa Rica; Juan Carlos García, Minister of Tourism of Cuba; Verónica Pardo Lagos, Vice Minister of Tourism of Chile; Mateo Julián Estrella Durán, Minister of Tourism of Ecuador; Morena Valdez, Minister of Tourism of El Salvador; Harris Whitbeck, Minister of Tourism of Guatemala; Yadira Gómez, Minister of Tourism of Honduras; Anasha Campbell, Minister of Tourism of Nicaragua; Gloria de León, Minister of Tourism of Panama; Angie Duarte de Melillo, Minister of Tourism of Paraguay; Willianette Robles Cancel, Minister of Tourism of Puerto Rico; and Eduardo Sanguinetti, Minister of Tourism of Uruguay.

One of the panels focused on “Hotels and Accommodation” and was led by Juan Molas; another on “Travel Agencies” by Carlos Garrido; and a third on “Quality and Sustainability” by Miguel Mirones. In addition, the CIMET 2025 gold and diamond insignia was awarded to Internationalization in Latin America.

The closing ceremony of CIMET 2025 was attended by Carlos Daniel Martínez, Executive Vice President of IFEMA Madrid, and Juan Cierco Jiménez de Parga, President of the CEOE Tourism Council, as well as Juan Molas, Carlos Garrido de la Cierva, Víctor Moneo, Rodrigo Esponda, Miguel Mirones and Eugenio de Quesada, among others.

Source: FITUR / IFEMA MADRID.