IFEMA, minube to Organize First Hackathon in FITUR 2017

FITUR 2017 is already on its way. The 37th Staging of the International Tourism Trade Fair organized by IFEMA will be held from 18 to 22 January 2017 at Feria de Madrid and, again in collaboration with minube, will present a program filled with activities for visitors and industry professionals.

As a novelty for this edition, FITUR and minube will organize the first Hackathon on Responsible Tourism held at a tourism fair in Spain. It consists of a working space for the collaborative development of technology-based ideas that encourage creativity and innovation and provide novel solutions for the industry’s needs.

During the weekend, in Hall 10 of the IFEMA trade fair site attendees will compete to develop the most innovative products in responsible tourism. With working groups of up to 5 people comprising programmers, designers and tourism industry professionals, they will work from 10 am of Saturday 21 January to 3 pm of Sunday the 22nd to present the most innovative idea to a Jury and thus win one of the prizes.

FITUR and minube will thus contribute to finding real solutions to achieve a more responsible and sustainable tourism industry. The theme of #Hackatrips will be Responsible Tourism in the context of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, of which minube is an Official Sponsor.

Saturday 21st January is the date for the 8th Staging of the Traveller Meet-Up, Spain’s largest traveler get-together where top travelers will spur on the dreams of those present. More than 1,500 people will meet to talk about travelling, plus a series of speakers who left everything in order to travel will tell us about adventures which changed their lives forever.

This year the first people to confirm attendance are the Zapp Family (www.argentinaalaska.com), Javier Colorado (Colorado On The Road) and the guys from The Water Van Project, but many surprises are still to be unveiled. These responsible travelers will inspire attendees to travel in a more sustainable way.

- The story of the Zapp Family began more than 15 years ago when Candelaria and Herman decided to go on a 6-month trip around America in a 1928 car (a Graham-Paige). Those six months have been extended to the present day, as they have never stopped travelling. During their tour of the world they have had 4 children, who accompany them on their adventures. They all continue to travel in the Graham-Paige, which is now almost 90 years old.

- Javier Colorado began his trip on 1 October 2013 in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. Riding his bike, he set out on his dream of going around the world. He has documented the experiences and adventures he has lived throughout his trip, to share them and inspire travelers from around the world to fulfil their dream. After 38 months of adventure, this year he ended the trip in the same place where it began.

- The Water Van Project is a group of four friends (Diego, Coke, Chechu and Edu) who decided to travel to Latin America and try to change the world. They covered more than 6,000 kilometers in a motorhome, providing water purification filters so that more than 20,000 people could have access to drinking water for more than 12 years.

At the session of 22 January, attendees will enjoy the 5th Staging of the Photography Workshop, where professional photographers will provide them with the knowledge of photography applicable to their travels. The first photographers to confirm attendance are Luis Rodriguez (www.luisonrh.com/), who will give advice on mobile photography, and David Maldonado (http://viajeros.minube.com/davidmaldonado871), who will talk about travel photography. We will soon get to know the rest of the photographers.

Trade visitors will also have available the minube School, a collaborative learning (c-learning) space where from 18 to 20 January they will learn to integrate online strategy into their overall marketing and communication plans. minube school will provide advice through one-to-one meetings as well as talks on trends in digital tourism, online tourism ecosystem (big data, content, personalization, new acquisition channels and more), ODS and sustainable tourism. Attendees will also be able to engage in networking, collaboratively sharing their good practices. Between us all we will contribute to a more responsible tourism.