2015 Fitur International Tourism Fair Opens in Madrid

The Fitur international tourism fair, one of the largest of its type in the world, opens its doors to professionals in the tourism sector on Wednesday after a year in which record numbers of tourists were reported not only in 2015 Fitur international tourism fair opens in Madrid, Spain
but also throughout the planet.

According to the UN’s World Tourism Organization there were 1,138 million international tourists in the world in 2014, of whom almost 65 million chose Spain as their destination (an increase of 7.1% on the year before), and the 686 stands at this year’s Fitur fair represent a
total of 165 nations. Over 9,000 companies are present, and it is expected that between now and Sunday around 200,000 people will visit the event, where various more light-hearted entertainments and attractions will be present alongside the stands themselves when the
fair is opened to the public during the weekend.

At this year’s event special sections have been set up to cater for health tourism and shopping tourism, reflecting the growing demand for these kinds of international trip. Health tourism is expected to generate a turnover of 277 million euros in Spain this year, a figure which is set to double by 2019, and across the globe the amount of revenue in the field is estimated at 7,000 million euros. This especially lucrative sector – health tourists spend between six and ten
times more than “normal” tourists - is dealt with in the Fitur Salud event.  

Shopping has been identified by the WTO as one of the main motivating factors behind the choice of destination for international travellers, being an important factor for half of all tourists. Spain has become the fourth most popular country in the world for shopping tourism,
attracting spending from outside the EU of 1,100 million euros every year, again according to the WTO, and the Fitur Shopping section of the fair is devoted specifically to this kind of visitor.

Alongside these specialist sector is another which has grown significantly in importance over recent decades: Fitur Gay is aimed specifically at LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) tourism, and is being held as part of Fitur for the fifth successive year. Gay
tourism is growing at a rate of 12% per year, and spending by LGBT tourists is now calculated to account for 15% of the worldwide total.