The 37th International Tourism Trade Fair, FITUR 2017, which is organised by IFEMA from 18 to 22 January at Feria de Madrid, will deploy a comprehensive programme of activities, workshops and forums in which recognised professionals and international experts will discuss the principal concerns and trends in national and international tourism.
Prior to the Trade Show’s official opening, Tuesday 17 January will see the staging of the 20th Latin American Conference for Tourism Ministers and Businessmen, CIMET, organised by the Nexo Group. Wednesday 18 will see the start of the FITURGREEN Workshops organised by FITUR, the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero, ITH, and the World Tourism Organisation, UNWTO. They will discuss innovation and sustainability in the tourism industry to drive forward its competitiveness, both that of companies and of destinations, uniting current trends with consumer expectations and demands. Also on show will be success cases of initiatives, projects and practical experiences, both national and international, through the staging of discussion panels, exhibitions and workshops.
For their part, the FITURTECH Workshops organised by ITH and FITUR will provide an innovative approach that positions the Trade Show as a meeting point for innovation and technology in the field of tourism at a time of global and social change. The project features four forums, which offer relevant content on the themes developed over the ten years of FITURTECH’s existence and the seven years of FIGURGREEN’s existence.
For their part, SEGITTUR and FITUR, in collaboration with ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones (ICEX Spain Export and Investment), are organising the fifth edition of FITUR KNOW-HOW & EXPORT, a space in which Spanish companies can show their tourism potential, knowledge, services and products to buyers from other international markets.
Also starting on the 18th, and held on each day of the Trade Show, are the FITUR GAY LGBT Workshops organised by Diversity Consulting, confirming the importance of a type of tourism that moves more than 10% of the volume of tourists worldwide and accounts for 16% of total tourist expenditure.
On 18 and 19 January, another meeting will take centre stage: that of the Spanish Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism, AECIT. A renewed INVESTOUR will be staged on the 19th. The 8th Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa, organised jointly by FITUR, the World Tourism Organisation UNWTO and Casa África, will centre its eighth edition on promoting the sustainable development of tourism in Africa, thus lending its support to the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 declared by the UN and channelled through the UNWTO, a specialised United Nations body. This is also the leitmotif of FITUR 2017. Also collaborating in INVESTOUR 2017 are CEIM, the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and Industry, CEOE, ICEX, PROEXCA and the Canaries Government.
.B2B Meetings
The FITUR B2B V Workshop Hosted Buyers will also be held during the Trade Show. This is a series of B2B (Business to Business) meetings that favour trade alliances through working agendas with pre-established meetings according to the participants’ explicit interests. Through these, FITUR exhibitors and co-exhibitors will be able to promote their products worldwide thanks to their appointments with rigorously selected international guest buyers
Moreover, FITUR SHOPPING –the shopping tourism section—will deal with the topics that concern and interest the agents involved in the development and promotion of shopping tourism. The barriers that have to be removed in order to promote the growth of shopping tourism, such as visas, VAT refund or connectivity, will also be examined. B2B-FTS working meetings will also be staged.
Furthermore, for the third consecutive year the Event will be hosting FITUR Health, the space promoted by Spaincares and FITUR, which will bring together exhibitors associated with health tourism such as hospitals specialising in caring for foreign patients, spas, dependence centres, specialised tour operators as well as insurers and health tourism destinations. FITUR Health will also be the stage for B2B meetings and a comprehensive programme of conferences delivered by experts of recognised national and international prestige, analysing the current scenario and this sector’s trends.
