Tourism trade fair sets new attendance records

Leading international tourism trade fair FITUR has set new records for participation and business at its 2017 event, held in Madrid from 18-22 January.

The trade fair consolidated its position as the first major forum in the business agenda of the worldwide tourism industry, reporting 6% growth in participants and 9% in trade attendance and international participation, according to figures released by organisers IFEMA. This numbers coincide with the best figures for the tourism industry in Spain and on a worldwide scale.

Over the five days, the event received – according to pre-closing estimations –  245,000 participants, a growth of 6% over 2016, with the particularly notable weight of trade attendance during the first three days, which came to 135,838 visitors, a 9% increase, and having consolidated the high international representation. In addition, nearly 7,500 journalists from the worldwide media were present.

Buyers programme

FITUR’s worldwide International Buyers programme was particularly successful, generated 6,800 business meetings, a growth of 10% over the previous year. Another significant increase came in terms of  international participation, with 9% more exhibitors, with the especially prominent presence of American destinations, which saw an increase of 17%; followed by Asia Pacific with 12% and Europe (including Israel) with 9% more compared to last year.

New destinations have also joined, such as Aruba, Nassau and Pakistan.  In total, 9,672 companies from 165 countries participated in the Trade Fair, with the most conspicuous growth occurring in the participation of technology companies that develop products for tourism, which experienced a strong rise of 23%.

Argentina, FITUR’s main partner, closed its participation with very positive results in international promotion and trade agreements

The growing international recognition of FITUR 2017 was underlined by its choice by the World Tourism Organisation as the venue for kicking off the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development declared by the United Nations Organisation, strengthening its positioning among the most relevant events on the international stage and particularly for the Latin American market given Argentina’s key partner role.