Spain. The International Tourism Fair (Fitur) closes its doors this Sunday after a few days that have registered a follow-up growth compared to last year, with more than 222,000 attendees, 136,000 professionals, 68% more, and 86,000 visitors.
In terms of participation, the fair has brought together 8,500 companies, 131 countries, 755 holders, along 8 pavilions of the fairgrounds, which have represented an area of 66,900 m2 net of exhibition, equaling the occupation of 2020, Ifema Madrid reported in a statement.
This movement of arrivals to Fitur is estimated to generate an impact on the Madrid economy of approximately 400 million euros. Also, it has registered a “great milestone” in the digital field, and that is that only on the first day of the fair traffic to the Ifema Madrid website skyrocketed exponentially, reaching the historical record of 146,000 visits.
In this same context, the digital platform Fitur LIVE Connect, which complements the fair with a hybrid format of greater temporal and geographical scope, counts to date more than 56,000 registrations, compared to the 31,000 totals of 2022.
As every year, Ifema Madrid has highlighted the “strong institutional support that Fitur has received, with the support of Casa Real which, once again, put the finishing touch to the opening day with the presence of SS.MM. the Kings of Spain, as well as by the Government of Spain”.
In addition, Fitur 2023 has had the visit of the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei, partner country of this edition; the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez; UNWTO representatives; 30 Ministers of Tourism from different countries; the Ministers of Economy and Social Affairs of Guatemala; 6 Spanish ministers; 15 presidents of Autonomous Communities and tourism counselors from 16 communities, and a hundred ambassadors and business managers, and mayors of different towns and cities of the country. In total, the attendance of 400 authorities gathered around this edition of Fitur has been counted.
The impact of the celebration of Fitur 2023 has also been reflected in the wide attendance of press and international media coverage registered during the days of the fair, in which 6,374 journalists have been accredited – 58% more than in 2022 – of which 5,861 have been national and 513 internationals from 46 countries.
In the social media environment, during the first two days of FITUR there has been a growth of the community of 3,724 followers, so that Fitur’s profiles on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, already add up to a total of 288,557 followers. In addition, all the publications made during these first days have obtained 1,676,316 impressions. In the Twitter profile Fitur has been Trending Topic in the No. 1 position in Spain the two days of celebration of the fair, obtaining more than 500 daily mentions in that channel.
In addition, the figure of Fitur Partner already has protagonist for the next edition, as revealed during the celebration of the fair, in which it was announced by the Minister of Tourism of Ecuador, Niels Olsen and the president of the Executive Committee of Ifema Madrid, José Vicente de los Mozos, who signed the collaboration agreement by which Ecuador will be ‘Fitur Partner Country’ in the next edition of the International Tourism Fair , to be held in January 2024.
Source: Forbes
