Photo: Gsar Marketing

Convened as an in-site event from May 19 to 23 at its usual IFEMA – Feria de Madrid venue, FITUR 2021 is extoled as a Special Tourism Recovery edition, adapted to the current situation; undoubtedly, it comes at the right time to give a good boost to the reactivation of world tourism.

A leading fair for inbound and outbound markets in Latin America, its high representation is recognized by the World Tourism Organization and the Spanish government, which declared it an Event of Exceptional Public Interest, given its contribution to the recovery of the tourism industry, vital for Spain’s economy.

As a complement, it offers a virtual version through FITUR LIVEConnect, an innovative online platform accessible via the web and mobile app, which will be active from May 5 to June 4, to facilitate preparation prior to the fair, as well as its follow up once it is finished.

Outstanding among its theme program are the business meetings FITUR MICE and Investour and the specialized areas FITUR LGBT+, FITUR Know How & Export, FITUR Health, FITUR Screen, FITUR Talent, FITURTechY and FITUR Next.

Through the FITUR MICE and FITUR Festivals & Events sections, respectively, event and incentive tourism is convened and cultural festivals are hosted in an area where the agents that make up this type of tourism coincide.

For its part, FITUR LGBT+ has celebrated its tenth anniversary and has become a benchmark event in the main tourism fairs—this segment encompasses more than 10% of tourists and contributes around 16% of total travel spending.

In the eighth edition of FITUR Know How & Export, in conjunction with SEGITTUR and ICEX Spain Export and Investments, companies will be able to identify the best business opportunities; and b2b CEAV, organized by the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies, offers a new space to hold business meetings between travel agents and suppliers.

As novelties, there are sections that stand out, such as FITUR LINGUA, whose objective is to promote language tourism, and FITUR Woman, which will discuss female leadership in the travel and tourism sector—54% of its workers are women—, organized in collaboration, respectively, with the Spanish Federation of Associations of Schools of the Spanish Language for Foreigners and Women Leading Tourism.

FITUR 2021, the first major international mobility experience in Europe since the appearance of COVID-19, has been designed according to an ambitious health and safety strategy projected by IFEMA, which has tested and confirmed the effectiveness and operability of strict protocols at four in-site fairs prior to FITUR.