The International Tourism Trade Fair,
The International Tourism Trade Fair,
In this respect, the FITUR Organizing Committee, agreed to pursue an initiative that was already announced at the last edition, the new Residential Tourism Exhibition, FITUR Residencial. This new section of the fair will join the other established sections – FITUR Know How, FITUR Active and FITUR Congresos – that have evolved in recent years in response to the growing specialization of the tourism industry, whose most faithful exponent is FITUR.
FITUR Residencial will be created at an especially opportune moment, given the obvious growth being witnessed by this kind of tourism, especially in view of the existence of a market consisting of 300 million Europeans. There are currently one million European residents in Spain, according to figures provided by the National Association of Property Developers and Residential Tourism.
Spain, with its three million second homes, is precisely one of the countries that offers the largest range of attractive possibilities and opportunities within this field. According to the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute, ICEX, the current supply of second homes consists of 65,000 units in stock and under construction, featuring a market value of 8,414 million euros.
Likewise, according to a study by Mazars on residential tourism, the overall turnover for this kind of tourism in Spain in the year 2000 generated by international demand came to 601 million euros, thanks to the existence of some 495 tourism complexes (70% of the European total). This turnover provided a quarter of all foreign investment in Spain.
Furthermore, we might mention other aspects of this international demand: one in four foreign tourists who visited Spain in the year 2000 chose residential tourism and 15 per cent stayed at their own homes and 6.9 per cent stayed in rented accommodation. Finally, the average stay was 17 days.
The profile of the foreign investor – mostly German and British, making up 80 per cent of demand – is the following: upper-middle class, liberal professionals or businessmen with income of between 60 thousand and 120 thousand euros. The Germans prefer the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Andalusia, whilst the British prefer Catalonia, Murcia and the Canary Islands.
This demand not only boosts the construction of second homes, but also encourages the development of a series of high-quality infrastructures, such as shopping centres, golf courses, marinas, etc.
Within this context, FITUR Residencial emerges as an ideal forum for debate regarding the sustainable development of cities and the coast-line and, of course, as a platform for marketing the products and services available on this up-and-coming market.
This exhibition will be presented in Hall 3 at Feria de Madrid, by potential exhibitors at FITUR Residencial: estate agents; building companies and property developers; financial bodies; official bodies and organizations for promotion and marketing; wholesalers, tour-operators and specialized travel agents; service companies (engineering companies, consulting companies …, and the media.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
