FITUR welcomes 251 thousand participants, the highest number in the event’s history

Share this
  • Records were also broken for trade attendance, with 140,120 representatives from all over the world, company participation, with more than 10,000 companies from 165 countries, and exhibition space, with 65,000 m2 
  • The Trade Fair’s largest growth was seen in international participation (54% of the total), an increase of 13%, led by Africa (21%), Asia Pacific (19%) and Europe (15%) 
  • An impressive schedule of business meetings consolidated FITUR’s position as the leading business forum for the global tourism industry, with more than 6,800 B2B meetings scheduled with international buyers and more than 38,000 meetings requested online. While all of these were organised by FITUR, thousands of bilateral meetings also took place at the stands 
  • FITUR also increased its economic impact on Madrid to the value of €260 million, with hotels at full capacity and more than 200 thousand evening activities accounting for €14.2 million 

Madrid – The 38th FITUR – Madrid’s International Tourism Fair, organised by IFEMA from 17 to 21 January – reveals the most impressive figures in its history, confirming its leadership as a premier business forum for the global tourism industry.

As well as the best figures for the tourism industry, both in Spain and worldwide, FITUR – which was once again inaugurated at IFEMA by the King and Queen of Spain, and which brought together more than 600 ministers, ambassadors and high-level representatives from all over the world – will close its doors today after welcoming some 251,000 participants, according to first estimates, representing growth of around 2.5% compared with 2017.Particularly noteworthy was the growing importance of trade attendance; 140,120 professionals from all over the world participated over the three days of the event, representing an increase of 3%. There were also more than 7,700 journalists from 59 countries covering the Trade Fair. The movement of people across the city generated an economic impact of 260 million euros, while 200,000 evening activities, promoted by Festitur, accounted for 14.2 million euros.

A noticeably high level of international transactions and business activity centred on FITUR during its trade sessions. The agenda organised by the Fair through its International Buyers programme generated more than 6,800 business meetings, and to this can be added more than 38,000 online requests for meetings, as well as the thousands of bilateral meetings that took place at the various stands.

FITUR, more international than ever before 

The greatest recorded growth was in international participation, showing an increase of 13% and representing 54%of the total, led by Africa, with an increase of 21%, Asia Pacific, with 19% and Europe, with 15%.

This growth was reflected in the useable floor area, which exceeded 65,000 m2 – an increase of 5% – as well as the total number of stands – 816, an increase of 8% – and the total number of participating companies and entities, which this year exceeded 10,000 organisations from 165 countries.

Major innovations at the Trade Fair included the participation of India as a FITUR partner, surpassing expectations with an optimal exposure of the brand Incredible India across the world, associated with FITUR, and with more than 1,000 business meetings at the Trade Fair. Other innovations included the creation of a new tourist segment, FITUR Festivals, with an extensive programme of events, and the presentation to the tourism industry of developments by a research team from IFEMA LAB 5G, demonstrating prototypes for applications for use with 5G technology and receiving more than 500 visits, making FITUR a pioneer in the concept of augmented trade fairs.

Another outstanding feature was the growth of the technology sector, gaining increasing importance at the trade fair in response to the process of transformation driven by the tourism industry, through the sections Fitur Know How & Export and FiturtechY, and the participation of technology developers and suppliers, which increased by 16%.

#FITUR2018 also broke records in terms of digital reach, with a community of 200,000 followers, 40 million pageviews and more than 21 million hits on Twitter, becoming a global trending topic on its first day.

Cheap Flights from Madrid

DestinationDeparture atReturn atFind tickets
Barcelona30 November 20244 December 2024Tickets from 41
Ibiza23 November 202424 November 2024Tickets from 44
Palma Mallorca15 November 202417 November 2024Tickets from 44
Tenerife26 November 202429 November 2024Tickets from 44
Las Palmas13 December 202415 December 2024Tickets from 46
Milan13 December 202417 December 2024Tickets from 47
Porto30 November 20241 December 2024Tickets from 48
Lanzarote27 November 202429 November 2024Tickets from 51
Lisbon8 February 202511 February 2025Tickets from 51
Marrakech15 December 202421 December 2024Tickets from 55
Paris9 December 202412 December 2024Tickets from 59
Vigo17 September 202520 September 2025Tickets from 61
Valencia21 June 202523 June 2025Tickets from 65
Rome22 November 202425 November 2024Tickets from 68
Bilbao13 June 202518 June 2025Tickets from 68
Alicante22 January 202527 January 2025Tickets from 69
Malaga14 November 202416 November 2024Tickets from 72
London9 December 202412 December 2024Tickets from 73
Pamplona13 January 202519 January 2025Tickets from 75
Casablanca29 November 20241 December 2024Tickets from 90
Puerto del Rosario29 November 20241 December 2024Tickets from 94
Prague18 November 202421 November 2024Tickets from 99
Geneva13 January 202517 January 2025Tickets from 102
Tirana18 December 202422 December 2024Tickets from 105
Catania18 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 105
Venice14 December 202417 December 2024Tickets from 106
Granada14 November 202418 November 2024Tickets from 107
Budapest17 January 202520 January 2025Tickets from 109
Krakow19 January 202525 January 2025Tickets from 109
Warsaw12 January 202518 January 2025Tickets from 110
Vienna9 December 202414 December 2024Tickets from 112
Lyon20 January 202525 January 2025Tickets from 113
Turin29 November 20242 December 2024Tickets from 115
Copenhagen13 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 124
Sevilla26 December 202429 December 2024Tickets from 125
Malta4 December 20249 December 2024Tickets from 125
Brussels16 November 202417 November 2024Tickets from 127
Genoa17 January 202519 January 2025Tickets from 128
Florence2 February 20257 February 2025Tickets from 129
Yerevan14 December 202417 December 2024Tickets from 132
Funchal24 March 202529 March 2025Tickets from 133
Berlin2 December 20244 December 2024Tickets from 135
Belgrade2 February 20256 February 2025Tickets from 135
Zurich17 November 202418 November 2024Tickets from 135
Frankfurt13 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 138
Amsterdam7 December 202410 December 2024Tickets from 139
Dusseldorf3 February 20259 February 2025Tickets from 143
Stockholm18 February 202521 February 2025Tickets from 145
Dublin30 April 20254 May 2025Tickets from 147
Sofia23 November 202425 November 2024Tickets from 148
Luxembourg22 November 202425 November 2024Tickets from 148
Athens15 March 202520 March 2025Tickets from 148
Oslo14 March 202519 March 2025Tickets from 158
Chisinau9 January 202512 January 2025Tickets from 161
Bologna4 December 20247 December 2024Tickets from 165
Hamburg5 May 202510 May 2025Tickets from 166
Nice10 November 202413 November 2024Tickets from 167
Istanbul23 May 202529 May 2025Tickets from 172
Riga19 February 202525 February 2025Tickets from 173
Ponta Delgada (Azores)12 March 202517 March 2025Tickets from 176
Bordeaux3 January 20256 January 2025Tickets from 182
Naples21 November 202423 November 2024Tickets from 187
Eindhoven13 November 202416 November 2024Tickets from 189
Bucharest12 November 202414 November 2024Tickets from 192
Wroclaw19 November 202421 November 2024Tickets from 195
Heraklion2 March 20258 March 2025Tickets from 195
Vilnius21 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 202
Tallinn23 November 202428 November 2024Tickets from 205
Reykjavik25 November 202429 November 2024Tickets from 205
Sharm el Sheikh10 June 202516 June 2025Tickets from 210
Munich6 December 20249 December 2024Tickets from 210
Helsinki24 January 202525 January 2025Tickets from 210
Podgorica18 December 202422 December 2024Tickets from 210
Antalya4 December 20247 December 2024Tickets from 215
Gothenburg20 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 218
Kutaisi19 November 202424 November 2024Tickets from 225
Dubrovnik14 March 202519 March 2025Tickets from 226
Dortmund17 November 202418 November 2024Tickets from 229
Olbia14 November 202416 November 2024Tickets from 237
Larnaca14 November 202418 November 2024Tickets from 242
Nuremberg21 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 247
Agadir21 December 202426 December 2024Tickets from 252
Baku28 November 20242 December 2024Tickets from 255
Izmir30 December 20243 January 2025Tickets from 256
Tbilisi24 November 202428 November 2024Tickets from 261
Thessaloniki23 December 202426 December 2024Tickets from 273
Zagreb11 March 202513 March 2025Tickets from 276
Riyadh11 December 202415 December 2024Tickets from 278
Abu Dhabi20 November 202424 November 2024Tickets from 283
Cairo15 December 202421 December 2024Tickets from 286
Berne10 January 202512 January 2025Tickets from 293
Dalaman18 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 306
Ljubljana11 March 202513 March 2025Tickets from 310
Dubai1 December 20244 December 2024Tickets from 354
Hurghada3 January 20258 January 2025Tickets from 358
Antwerp10 January 202513 January 2025Tickets from 359
Tromso5 December 20249 December 2024Tickets from 364
Sharjah1 December 20244 December 2024Tickets from 370
Gazipasa13 November 202419 November 2024Tickets from 382
Moscow10 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 387

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Author: Editor