FITUR 2022 superhit with traders

With over one lakh guests, this year’s international tourism fair, FITUR 2022, exceeded all expectations. Number of exhibitors and attendees nearly equalled pre-pandemic levels, making fair a success and positioning Madrid as a global hub for the international tourism community.

IFEMA Madrid hosted the International Tourism Trade Fair, FITUR 2022, from January 19 to 23. The results show efforts of the entire tourism industry value chain to create new prospects, allowing it to look forward to a robust revival in 2022.

The trade fair was crucial in regaining business and turnover, positioning Madrid as a global hub for the international tourism community and giving a message of confidence and strength to the entire world.

The participation at FITUR 2022 exceeded initial expectations. Over its first three days, there were 81,193 trade attendees from 127 countries, which was double the number from 2021. There were also 30,000 general visitors at the weekend, taking up the number of attendees to over one lakh mark.

The online participation of professionals from around the world was also record breaking.

With FITUR LIVEConnect, the fair offered a hybrid format with a longer season and more geographic coverage.

A total of 33,286 people registered, a 10 per cent increase over initial predictions. The number of unique users on the FITUR website was up 90 per cent reaching 150,000 users, twice as many as in 2021.

The response from companies, countries and destinations was excellent. This was evident in the 6,933 participants from 107 countries. There were 600 exhibitors and official representation by 70 countries, led by the Dominican Republic, which this year, under the slogan Has it all, deployed extraordinary resources as a FITUR Partner Country.

This diverse group of participants contributed to making FITUR an edition that has had a significant impact on the sector’s revitalisation. The enormous number of visitors to FITUR is believed to have boosted Madrid’s economy by more than €150 million.

Another highlight this year was the strong institutional support for FITUR. The presence of Spain’s Royal Family put the finishing touch on the opening day once again.

At FITUR, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the release of the second edition of the Spanish Government’s Tourism Sustainability Plan. UNWTO representatives, tourism ministers from 21 countries and four delegations, seven Spanish government ministries, regional presidents, tourist councillors from Spanish regions and mayors from several Spanish cities also attended the fair.

There were 3,981 accredited journalists from 40 nations, nearly twice the number in May of 2021.

The 1,200 postings made on the fair’s channels to promote the event increased FITUR’s social media influence. The fair’s social media channels garnered over six million impressions and 90,000 interactions. For two days in Spain and one day in the Dominican Republic, the hashtag #FITUR2022 trended on Twitter. The hashtag’s total online reach topped 600 million potential impacts.

Apart from the diverse content presented in the eight FITUR halls by a variety of companies, countries and destinations, the fair also organised hundreds of activities, forums, presentations and initiatives to stimulate the market within its zone.

In addition, FITUR was also the platform for public presentation of HELIXA Experience Center to tourism sector companies and professionals. HELIXA Experience Center is the result of IFEMA MADRID’s innovation programme to promote the adoption of cutting-edge technology in the trade fair business.