FITUR 2009 to Promote the Travel Industry

Next January the International Tourism Trade Fair will renew its commitment to the industry, in which respect FITUR will make a renewed effort to improve the service it provides to professionals and to boost its international appeal and dimension.

Based on the magnificent response that the participants at the next edition of FITUR have presented to date, IFEMA, the body that organises the fair, has already planned a number of measures, such as conferences and coinciding activities, to complement the new features that the exhibitors themselves will be presenting. These developments confirm the fair’s role as the most effective meeting forum for members of the tourist industry.

For the second consecutive year, FITUR ‘09 will once again occupy the entire exhibition space available at the fairground (some 200,000 square metres), with the halls also presenting some important new features and improvements, especially after the completion of the new Halls 12 and 14 and the creation of the new East Gate.

The figures corresponding to the last edition of FITUR, that took place last January, included a new record for participation at the event, thus constituting the best starting-point for what will now be its twenty-ninth edition. In effect, the last edition of the fair, FITUR ‘08, brought together the tourism products and services of 13,530 companies representing 170 countries/regions, distributed throughout a net exhibition space measuring 100,500 square metres, which represented growth of 12 percent compared to the previous year.

Moreover, some 255,817 visitors were recorded, of whom 157,300 were professionals. The importance of this, the first grand world tourism event of the year, is also ensured by the considerable level of media interest it arouses, based on the attendance of more than 8,000 accredited journalists.

FITUR 2009 aims to maintain these figures, in which respect it shall once again implement the wide-ranging strategies it has employed in the past in order to make this fair one of the most important events of its kind on the world trade fair calendar: a growing international dimension, improved services and higher levels of professionalism, always based on the objective of ensuring that exhibitors and visitors are able to gain access to a wider range of business opportunities.

Following the reorganisation that took place at the last edition, the twenty-ninth edition of the International Tourism Trade Fair will maintain the same organisation and layout of its products and services as at the last edition, thus facilitating the orientation of visiting professionals. Furthermore, the fair will once again set aside the whole of Hall 2 for visitor registration, thus ensuring smooth and easy access to the exhibition itself.

In this respect, the products and services presented by tourism companies will be distributed throughout Halls 4, 12 and 14.0. The rest of the even-numbered halls will be devoted to the international section: Asia, the Pacific, Africa, international hotel chains and global companies will all be located in Hall 6; the Americas in Hall 8; and Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in Hall 10.
As far as the national section of the fair is concerned, Spanish tourism bodies and official organisations will be distributed throughout the odd-numbered halls, namely Halls 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. For its part, FITUR CONGRESOS, which is due to take place on 26th and 27th January 2009, will take place in Hall 14.1.