The Trade Show also registers a record in business participation, with 9,605 businesses, 3.4% more; and raises the economic impact on Madrid to 210 million euros
Destinations from all over the world, tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, transport companies, service and technology businesses generated intense trading activity at the Show
The International Tourism Fair, FITUR, organised by IFEMA from 20 to 24 January at Feria de Madrid, has generated a profusion of business, collaboration agreements and new clients for all its exhibitors. Destinations from every country, autonomous regions and territories from all over Spain, tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, transport companies and all types of tourism-related service and technology businesses showcased their products and services to hundreds of thousands of potential clients and held thousands of work meetings, which resulted in a strong intensification of their sales and a powerful spur to their trading activity.
Furthermore, important meetings and encounters were staged as part of the Trade Show, such as the 1st meeting of the Pacific Alliance in 2016 on tourism, in which the Deputy Tourism Ministers of Peru, Chile and Colombia as well as Mexico’s Tourism Secretary participated.
.The best figures in history
The 36th staging of FITUR achieved the best figures in its history and a high rating for the quality and qualification of the contacts. The event again registered a new record in participation, which coincides with the best figures for the tourism industry in Spain and worldwide. Over its five-day staging, the Trade Show thus received 231,872 visitors (professionals and general public). Particularly noteworthy was professional participation, with 124,659 visitors and 2% growth, consolidating the high international representation that in its two previous editions had already shown growth of 7% and 12% respectively.
To this we must add the growth registered in attendance of general public during the weekend, which exceeded 10% to 107,213 visitors. Thanks to these results, IFEMA raises the figure for the economic repercussion this major event had on Madrid, more than 210 million euros. The impact generated by the FESTITUR programme alone, which was organised by Noche Madrid, registered 170.660 outings and 12.1 million euros spent on leisure venues, gastronomy and spectacles.
FITUR also registered a record in business participation. A total of 9,605 businesses participated, an increase of 3.4%. Particularly relevant was the major advance in the participation of international businesses, which grew by 4% against 3.1% of national participation. Equally, a significant increase was recorded in direct business participation. This edition saw the presence of 711 main stand holders between companies, institutions and organisations, representing 3% growth, with the incorporation of 178 new businesses of which more than 50% are international. The countries present at the Trade Show, 165, also grew with 16 reinstatements with official participation, among them the Netherlands, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Belize and Guinea, and the new joins Burkina Faso, which came with official representation for the first time, as well as Latvia, which took part with business participation.
A positive outcome, in line with the highly favourable rating merited by the professional qualification and quality of the contacts, confirmed by the 25% growth experienced in the number of business appointments scheduled and arranged at FITUR, up to 6,200 appointments.
Not only FITUR’s leadership for Latin American Countries is confirmed but also, and gradually on the rise, for countries from the African continent, both of them markets to which the Trade Show offers its strategic potential for reaching out to Europe’s tourism business. This is confirmed by the participation of 42 countries from Latin America and 44 from Africa, a figure that grows more and more with each staging, driven by the programme organised together with the UNWTO and Casa Africa, INVESTOUR, which attracted 21 ministers, 350 participants and 99 investment projects to its forums and workshops and hosted 115 scheduled appointments.
Also contributing to these figures and the climate of optimism observed at FITUR 2016 was the high national and international institutional support received, with the presence of high-ranking representatives and officials. Since the Trade Show was inaugurated by the Queen of Spain on 24 January, FITUR received 80 tourism ministers and top authorities from the five continents. In addition, representing the highest state institutions as well as the Spanish Government and the Autonomous Regions, the President of the Government, the President of Congress, the Ministers of Industry and Tourism, Culture, Development and Justice and a broad group of regional Presidents and Government Councillors came to the Trade Show to support the tourism industry. We must also add the considerable support given by the World Tourism Organisation, which concentrates its principal actions into FITUR.
Moreover, FITUR once again confirmed its status as a reference within the tourism industry on Social Media. It was Trending Topic on its first day and set a new audience and hit record –far ahead of the major trade shows in the industry: more than 150,000 international followers on the principal social platforms, 64 million users reached on Twitter; more than 35,000 tweets with the #FITUR2016 and #FITUR hashtag and more than 16,000 users re-tweeting about FITUR.
Another significant detail revealing the outstanding international relevance of FITUR 2016 was the number of accredited journalists, 6,692, from 48 countries, as well as a total of 492 bloggers.
