The tourist event that kicks off the 2022 season is held until January 23 at IFEMA
FITUR 2022 was inaugurated today. The opening ceremony was led by the King and Queen of Spain,
the President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, the Secretary General of the UNWTO Zurab Pololikashvili, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain Reyes Maroto and the Director General of IFEMA Eduardo López-Puertas.
It is worth noting that it is not just another edition, it has been an extremely bold bet in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak due to the Omicron variant.
The attendance of Their Majesties is an honor that once again highlights the continuous support of the Royal House for the International Tourism Fair, throughout its entire history. In addition, its presence is especially relevant in this edition of FITUR, decisive for generating confidence in the market and demonstrating the potential of tourism as a generator of wealth and employment.
The Fair will celebrate its 42nd edition by taking a step forward, aware of the need for tourism activity to regain its leadership as a lever for economic and social development, in a key context of global recovery after the pandemic. With this, IFEMA MADRID wants to draw attention to the need to learn both tourist activity and business tourism, to live safely with this new situation and adapt its environments to measures and protocols that should become common in the future. righ now.
To achieve this goal, FITUR continues with a large call and paving the way to adapt its international event to a new “normality” that will allow the reunion of the entire value chain of the tourism industry and will contribute to the take-off of activity at the international level. global. It will be a strong and decisive edition to generate confidence in the market and demonstrate the potential of tourism as a generator of wealth and employment. To guarantee maximum confidence, and taking into account the high level of vaccination in Spain and other countries as a greater guarantee, IFEMA MADRID has reconfigured a totally safe celebration context in health terms, backed by rigorous protocols and security measures. and for a scenario of confidence in the management of public health.
FITUR 2022 in figures
The response to FITUR, as a whole, has been excellent, as revealed by the high national and international representation that this edition brings together with figures that place the fair in parameters very close to those achieved before the pandemic. Eight pavilions of the fairgrounds will be occupied -3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) which represent a net area of 56,700 m2 in which all the Autonomous Communities will be represented, with their wide range of Spanish destinations , new companies, and an important international presence with the participation of 107 countries, between destinations and companies, of which 70 attend with official representation. In total, FITUR will bring together 600 main exhibitors and will bring together 6,933 participants,
In addition, FITUR continues its hybridization formula that complements the face-to-face participation of destinations and companies with a digital platform that allows offering added value to professional participants and expanding networking opportunities between exhibitors and visitors. FITUR LIVEConnect will be operational from December 20 to February 4.
HELIXA Experience Center, presentation to the tourism sector
Coinciding with the celebration of FITUR, IFEMA MADRID, hand in hand with its innovation hub IFEMA MADRID Lab, presents to companies and professionals in the tourism sector the HELIXA collaborative knowledge and innovation platform designed to inspire and accompany the business fabric in the transformation and evolution towards the new models of activity and business that open the metaverses. The platform, which will be a focus of interest within the framework of FITUR, also aims to promote the convergence of technologies to introduce the business and entrepreneurial community to all platforms and mixed and virtual realities, and help them create value.
Dominican Republic, FITUR Partner Country
The Dominican Republic will be the FITUR PARTNER COUNTRY this year, which represents an outstanding participation, prominence and visibility of this Caribbean destination in this strategic edition for the promotion of the country’s great tourist attractions.
In this way, and under the slogan ‘It Has Everything’, the Dominican Republic will have a highly visible showcase to the world, and especially to the European and Asian markets, where the country has great growth potential. Professionals will find a great display of content from this Caribbean country that has become a world benchmark in the management of tourism activity during the pandemic, and that has big plans to consolidate the recovery of the flow of tourists to the country and improve continuously the experiences of the traveler, accommodation, transportation, entertainment activities, historical and cultural preservation, as well as spaces for meetings and conventions to promote Mice tourism
Spaces and Monographic Sections
As every year at FITUR, aspects related to innovation, technology and digital transformation, as well as issues related to sustainable development and accessibility, will have a prominent role, and a complete tour of all segments will be offered specialized and modalities of tourism that stimulate the market.
In this sense, all the verticals will once again be represented in the different sections, spaces and forums of this edition, in which FITUR CRUISES will be a novelty, which in this first edition will be held only on Saturday and will present cruise tourism, its challenges, opportunities and new experiences to the FITUR public, in collaboration with the specialized online magazine, CruceroAdicto.com
FITURTECHY will surprise again with its capacity for innovation. Dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge and innovation, this year it will provide, organized in collaboration with the Hotel Technological Institute (ITH), an innovative vision at a time of change for the tourism sector, through its four forums on business, destination, sustainability and future trends.
FITUR KNOW HOW & EXPORT, organized by SEGITTUR and with the collaboration of ICEX, will celebrate its tenth anniversary by showcasing the innovative knowledge of the Spanish tourism industry, with special emphasis on the strategy of Smart Tourist Destinations, with the aim of promoting innovation and sustainability in tourism and the internationalization of Spanish tourism SMEs
FITUR MICE will once again be a great opportunity within the framework of FITUR to put the MICE offer in contact with its potential clients in Corporations, Associations,
Incentive companies, Business Travel Companies and Event and congress organizers
FITUR SCREEN, co-organized with the Spain Film Commission, will disseminate in this space intended to connect the tourism and film industries, knowledge about film tourism, promoting commercial exchange between the different actors in the ecosystem and formulating future proposals for the development of this sector.
FITUR LGBT+, this year under the slogan “For inclusive tourism” brings together destinations, companies, hotel chains, airlines and tour operators that present a specific offer for the LGBT customer segment, for less seasonal travel and tourist habits.
FITUR TALENT, which on this occasion will analyze the situation and management of talent in organizations and companies in two unprecedented years, marked by the paralysis caused by Covid-19 and the necessary reactivation. The industry’s talent drain, “Silver” talent, new employee motivation and compensation strategies will be some of the topics that this forum will address.
FITUR WOMAN, organized in collaboration with WOMEN LEADING TOURISM – WLT, will offer a meeting point for awareness, debate and dialogue that contributes to promoting the role of women in this industry in terms of leadership and sustainability.
FITUR LINGUA, focused on Language Tourism, a segment with great growth potential, and important in the case of Spain but also of other destinations that attract visitors to learn their language
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY will concentrate another good part of the specialized technological offer at the service of the tourist company, with the latest solutions, developments and tools that will mark the new trends for the future
For its part, the FITUR NEXT Observatory dedicated to promoting good tourism practices in terms of sustainability, and which this year analyzes the contribution of tourism to an accessible society, will present the TUR4all, Albastar and COCEMFE initiatives, awarded in the three categories promoted in this edition: new technologies in pursuit of accessible tourism, tourist services and inclusive complementary offer and management and promotion of accessibility in the sector, respectively. In addition, it will offer a program of presentations with the participation of experts in accessibility and inclusion in tourism
FITUR will also host major events related to tourism, including the XI EXCELTUR Tourism Leadership Forum, with an unrivaled cast of world and national business leaders, who set global standards for the sector, and the XXIV edition of CIMET, which will bring together to the main Ibero-American tourism ministers and entrepreneurs. Both events will be held on January 18 as a prelude to FITUR.
Awards and honours
There will be no shortage of awards and recognitions with which IFEMA MADRID, FITUR and various entities want to highlight the effort for the development of tourist activity in different areas. Among them, and for the second time, FITUR, will award the “Sustainable Stand” Award, organized with the collaboration of the Responsible Tourism Institute, ITR, in order to underline the effort of the exhibiting companies to make their presence at FITUR respectful with the environment and climate change, contributes to promoting social and cultural aspects, as well as reference to issues of governance and economy. In addition, the 23rd edition of the FITUR-Jorge Vila Fradera Tribune Award, convened in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AECIT), has the objective of improving competitiveness from knowledge, and will award a research project on tourism to disseminate it among the academic world. Both Awards will be awarded during the celebration of FITUR
Added to them is the AireLibre Tourism Contest, organized by FITUR and the magazine AireLibre, to promote the development and marketing of the tourism industry and project the highest quality tourism products within the framework of active tourism; ‘The Chatbots Tourism Awards 2021’ organized by SEGITTUR within the framework of FITUR KNOW HOW & EXPORT, to search for the best national and international chatbots/voiceapps and conversational technology solutions, made up of destinations and companies in the tourism sector to improve the traveler experience, and the ‘AMT Smart Destinations Awards’ of the Hotel Technological Institute, ITH, which will reward, in the context of FITURTECHY,
Weekend at FITUR
As every year, on Saturday and Sunday, January 22 and 23, FITUR will open its doors to the public, who will thus have the opportunity to discover the proposals offered by destinations and regions around the world, and enjoy, with all the security measures, the activities offered by some of the sections and stands of this edition.
Rigorous security protocol
To guarantee the normal celebration of FITUR, IFEMA MADRID will reinforce health controls and take all security measures to the extreme. In this sense, and in a context marked by the high levels of vaccination registered in Spain, FITUR 2022 will require all participants to present at least one of the following requirements:
EU Digital Covid Certificate; QR Spain Travel Health; Negative PCR or Antigen test carried out in the 24 hours prior to your first access to FITUR.
In other words, citizens of European Union countries, as well as citizens who are or legally reside in a Member State and have the right to travel to other Member States, may present the EU Digital Certificate; also, citizens of countries and territories that have joined the EU Digital Covid Certificate.
On the other hand, Citizens of Third Countries not linked to this Certificate, will be required to enter FITUR the same requirement that, on the date, Spain requires to access the Country and that allows them to obtain the Spain Travel Health QR.
In the absence of at least one of these requirements, attendees will be asked for a negative COVID test – PCR or Antigen Test – carried out within 24 hours prior to the start of their control at FITUR. These tests can be carried out at IFEMA MADRID thanks to the health device deployed for this purpose.
También se volverá a desplegar, como ya se hizo en la edición de 2021, un riguroso protocolo de medidas y sistemas para garantizar la seguridad de todos los expositores y visitantes, validado por la Consejería de Sanidad de la Comunidad de Madrid. Así, llevará a cabo el control de aforos en todos los pabellones, con sistemas automatizados de conteo de personas, y con un sistema inteligente digital para el análisis de espacios, aforos y comportamiento de asistentes, controlando en todo momento las aglomeraciones, además de exigir la obligatoriedad del uso de mascarilla FFP2 para acceder a FITUR, y los controles de toma de temperatura que están implantados en todas sus ferias.
The application of strict protocols in the field of restoration will also be relevant, with a wide deployment of spaces destined for this purpose outside the enclosure.
To this is added the provision in the IFEMA MADRID facilities of an advanced and powerful ventilation system that guarantees the elimination of air recirculation, its filtration and complete renewal every 20 minutes, which prevents the spread of pathogens. Measures that are complemented by the organization of the movement of people and the distribution of spaces to guarantee the interpersonal safety distance; the distribution of hydroalcoholic gel dispensers and disinfectants throughout the premises, and the use of digital passes to avoid contact.
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