Photo: Fitur.

IFEMA MADRID has reconfirmed the dates for the International Tourism Trade Fair: from 19th to 23rd January. This decision has been unanimously approved at a meeting convened by the Chairman of IFEMA’s Executive Committee, José Vicente de los Mozos. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, the Regional Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the Madrid Regional Government, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, Madrid City Council’s Councillor for Tourism, Almudena Maillo, the Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary-General, Isabel Oliver, as well as the private sector represented by the Chairman of the FITUR Organising Committee and IBERIA, Javier Sánchez-Prieto.

All the stakeholders present at this meeting agreed that “holding FITUR is the best way to ensure support for the tourism sector at a critical time for its full recovery and a return to pre-pandemic business activity levels. Once again, in January, Spain and Madrid will send out a hopeful and unambiguous message about the potential of this industry that needs to get back to normal business activity, an industry that in recent months has demonstrated its tremendous resilience.”

In the words of the Chairman of the IFEMA MADRID’s Executive Committee, José Vicente de los Mozos, “it’s important that we have reached unanimity on this decision. It will have a major impact on the tourism business and ensure that we can organise a major event in a safe environment. This event already proved its capacity at the last edition, in an even more difficult situation. This edition of FITUR will mark a turning point in the tourism business, even more so now that we are starting a year in which we’re so optimistic about a safe recovery for the industry worldwide.”

FITUR 2022 is also backed by the entire tourism industry value chain. This is evident in the strong representation, both from Spain and abroad, and forecasts for the Fair very close to pre-pandemic levels. The Fair will occupy eight of the halls, with stands representing all of Spain’s regions, with a wide range of Spanish destinations, new companies, and a stronger international presence. Altogether, FITUR will bring together around a hundred countries with seventy official representations, led by the Dominican Republic, this year’s FITUR Partner Country.

Rigorous Safety Protocol

To ensure that FITUR runs normally, IFEMA MADRID will strengthen sanitary checks and enforce all necessary safety measures. In this respect, in a context marked by Spain’s excellent vaccination levels, FITUR 2022 will require all participants from countries in the EU digital COVID certificate scheme to show it. The requirement for participants from other countries will be the same as at border checks to obtain the QR Spain Health for entry into the country.

It will also deploy again, as it did at the 2021 edition, a rigorous protocol of measures and systems to ensure the safety of all exhibitors and visitors, validated by the Madrid Regional Government’s Health Department. There will also be capacity control in all the halls, with automated people counting systems and an intelligent digital system for analysing spaces, capacity and attendee behaviour. There will be crowd control at all times, and mandatory wearing of masks inside the IFEMA MADRID facilities, and temperature checks that are in place at all its fairs.

There will also be strict protocols in catering facilities, with spacious outdoor seating areas.

In addition to this, IFEMA MADRID’s facilities are equipped with an advanced and powerful ventilation system that filters the air, prevents it recirculating, and ensures complete renewal every twenty minutes to prevent the spread of pathogens. These measures are complemented by careful organisation of people flows and layout of spaces to ensure safe interpersonal distancing, hand sanitiser gel and disinfectants throughout the premises, and contactless digital passes.