FITUR 2020 Opens Today: Do You Know What It Is?
By Jorge Coromina
FITUR, Spain’s number-one travel and tourism fair, and one of the world’s leading trade shows in the industry, opens today at the IFEMA fairgrounds in Madrid.
For 40 editions in a row, FITUR has been the first of all leading travel and tourism events to open the year’s calendar as it unfolds in late January. But do you know exactly what FITUR is and what it has in store for tourism industry professionals? Let’s take a closer look.
FITUR as an Events
FITUR is an event organised by IFEMA spanning five days and welcomes both trade visitors from the tourism industry interested in the latest industry trends, and the general public who come for first-hand information about the destinations on show.
For the first three days the trade fair is open exclusively to trade visitors, and at the weekend also to the general public.
Five days that translate into hundreds of opportunities to make contacts, start projects and make agreements. We help you to make the most of your participation and reach professionals with a high level of decision-making capability in any tourism segment: 38% chairmen/general managers, 34% marketing/sales/commercial managers and 21% sales/consultant executives.
The Partner Country
The 40th edition of the International Tourism Fair, FITUR 2020, will present South Korea as its partner country.
South Korea is a destination that has significantly increased its foreign visitors, and in 2018 reached 15.3 million tourists, 15.1% more than the previous year. This Asian country is also increasingly attractive to Spaniards, with 27,314 visitors last year, 17.2% more than in 2017.
Korea is currently Spain’s third largest inbound market in Asia, and the Korean people’s interest in Spain has grown considerably in recent years.
More than 490,000 Korean tourists visited Spain in 2018, compared to 440,000 in 2017 and 43 thousand in 2010. Good connections, with direct flights from Seoul to Madrid and Barcelona, make it easier to travel between the two countries.
What to Expect at FITUR
At FITUR you also meet people unexpectedly, and that leads to great new ideas and sources of business. Attendance by over 8,000 journalists from 68 countries is evidence of the level of expectation this event creates in the industry: take advantage of media coverage to promote your destination or business.
Likewise, at the last event, 9,150 business appointments were scheduled for the different B2B meetings organised by the trade fair and 49,711 appointments were made using the online appointment system.
As society evolves, tourism reflects the diversity of tastes and trends that are part of our lifestyle. FITUR accommodates both mass tourism and niche markets. Each year we expand our showcase of specialist sectors that are making the tourism landscape more diverse and sustainable.
High-Tech FITUR
FITUR encompasses technology, the future and sustainability. FITUR deals with industry-wide, cutting-edge topics such as Big Data, artificial intelligence, smart tourist destinations, and start-ups.
In addition, FITUR has launched the FITUR Next observatory to act as a guide for identifying future tourism trends and to disseminate guidelines that can bring benefits for visitors, residents, destinations and the environment, economically, socially, culturally and environmentally.
