The International Tourism Trade Fair,
The International Tourism Trade Fair,
In the year 2003, the fair will occupy 9 of the 10 halls at the Juan Carlos I Exhibition Centre in Madrid, which means that the gross exhibition area will measure some 135,000 square metres, that is to say, almost 12 per cent more than at the last edition.
These figures have been strengthened by the creation of a new section of the fair, FITUR Residencial, that has emerged in response to the appearance of this up-and-coming segment. The new Residential Tourism Exhibition will take place in Hall 3.
The rest of the fair will be structured according to sectors, as has been the case for a number of years. Thus, Halls 5, 7 and 9 will host the attendance of Spanish institutions; Hall 8 will feature the international hotel chains; Hall 10 will present Spanish companies, and Halls 4 and 6 will feature the international area with the stands corresponding to the American Continent (Hall 6) and the Rest of the World (Hall 4).
Within the framework of the fair, visitors will also be able to see the products and services offered by the other specialized sections of the fair, exhibitions that have become fully established within their respective fields throughout the history of the fair: FITUR Know How, the Spanish Tourism Know-How Exhibition, and FITUR Activo, the Active Tourism Exhibition.
For its part, Spain’s Meetings and Incentive Travel Workshop, FITUR Congresos, which will stage its fourth edition on 27th and 28th January 2003, will host its meetings between Spanish sellers and international buyers within the meetings market in Hall 2.
Over the last four years, FITUR Congresos has confirmed its role as an excellent trade meeting and business forum for international demand and Spanish supply-side companies within the meetings and congress field, a market in which Spain offers a number of marvellous opportunities. In order to enable foreign professionals to discover these opportunities, the fair will once again implement an ambitious pre-tours programme, in collaboration with the various Spanish regions and bodies involved, which covers some of the most attractive congress destinations.
Feria de Madrid will once again spare no effort in offering the very best service to the wide-ranging group of tourism professionals who will attend the fair from all around the world. In this respect, visitors to FITUR 2003 will be able to use the stand (that is already up and running) that IFEMA has set up at Terminal 2-Arrivals at Barajas International Airport. Not only will visitors be able to find exhaustive information about all the fairs organized by IFEMA and about FITUR itself, but they will also be able to carry out the corresponding accreditation procedures, thus being able to gain direct access to the International Tourism Trade Fair.
What is more, the new Barajas Airport Terminal at the Underground Station of Nuevos Ministerios has also recently been opened, located right in the city-centre. This line will not only take passengers to Feria de Madrid, but will also enable them to check in their luggage directly at the station.
Finally, with regard to the services that the fair offers tourism professionals, the organizers will once again present the web-page Fituronline.com, which began to operate at the last edition and received almost 10 million consultations, 66 per cent of which were made by foreign professionals. In this respect, FITUR has established itself as an important tool for communication and information within the industry.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
