The 45th International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) has opened today (January 22) and will showcase the industry’s resilience and positive outlook until January 26 in Madrid, showcasing outstanding performance in 2024 and promising expectations for 2025.
The edition is marked by a 10 per cent increase in main exhibitors and a notable 19 per cent rise in international participation.
The event features 9,500 participating companies from 156 countries, with 884 main exhibitors showcasing their products across nine pavilions, including 101 countries with official representation.
The event is expected to generate an economic impact of €445 million ($462 million) for Madrid, positively affecting transportation, hospitality, catering, culture, and entertainment sectors.
The inclusion of eleven new countries, primarily from Africa and Asia, enhances the fair’s global focus. The Travel Technology area has seen growth, featuring over 100 companies, representing a 6 per cent increase.
FITUR has renewed its 10 sections to promote sustainability and business by connecting the tourism industry with other sectors that generate new traveler niches. These sections include FITUR Cruises, FITUR Lingua, FITUR Screen, and FITUR Sports.
FITUR Techy, created with ITH, will address AI’s revolutionising travel management, FITUR Talent, FITUR Woman FITUR Woman, FITUR Know How & Export, and the second edition of FITUR 4all, sponsored by Mallorca.
The Sustainability Observatory, FITURNEXT, will explore how tourism can contribute to sustainable food management.
IFEMA MADRID will measure FITUR’s carbon footprint for the first time in 2025, including scope 3 emissions.
For the first time, FITUR partners with Holafly, the leading eSIM company in Europe, to offer visitors 24 hours of free eSIM during fair days.
During the weekend of January 25 and 26, FITUR opens its doors to the general public, offering a unique opportunity to embark on a global journey without leaving the nine pavilions of IFEMA MADRID.
Visitors can experience interactive activities such as live music performances, gastronomic tastings, accessibility awareness sessions, craft workshops, and contests, as well as access to direct information about the extensive tourism offerings of various destinations.
Among the novelties of 2025, Brazil’s participation as Partner Country stands out, showcasing its diverse tourism offerings and continuing to boost its global positioning as a destination. According to Embratur, by October 2024, Brazil had received 13 per cent more international travelers compared to the same period in 2023.
José Vicente de los Mozos, Executive Committee Chairman of IFEMA MADRID, stated that “the figures for FITUR 2025 confirm its consolidation as the great global event of the tourism industry. Following a record-breaking 2024 across all metrics, the Fair once again defines itself by its growth, showing not only its significant reach, but also its importance as a letter of presentation for the Spain Brand and the Madrid Brand, as well as highlighting our country’s potential as both an undeniably leading inbound market and an outbound one.
Meanwhile, Marco Sansavini, President of Iberia and the FITUR Organising Committee, emphasised that “FITUR will once again prove its increasing strength. This 2025 we are addubg 12 new countries, which gives our fair an even more global scope. New participants from key markets will be present: for example, Kenya from Africa or Vietnam from Asia. We will also have some new partners from the European continent, such as Austria, among others. This growth of the fair is no coincidence, but the result of the entire Spanish tourism sector’s efforts, which demonstrates day after day its dynamism and its capacity to innovate, to adapt, which allows it to maintain its international leadership”.
Brazil’s Ambassador, Orlando Leite Ribeiro, stated that “Brazil considers tourism as an activity that combines technological innovation, sustainability and the country’s cultural and natural wealth. The goal is to highlight how the nation leads the integration between green economy and tourism, reaffirming its commitment to preserving the planet and this is above all what we want to show the world. Under these premises, tourism becomes an ally in forest conservation. The country aspires to consolidate itself as a world reference in sustainable tourism, valuing the protection of its biodiversity, especially in view of the COP30 in Belém”.
Almudena Maíllo del Valle, Head of the Madrid City Council’s Tourism Department stated, “FITUR will make Madrid the world capital of tourism, being the perfect showcase to showcase the unique experiences that have made Madrid the second most attractive urban destination in the world according to Euromonitor. This fair is an opportunity to show the world the best of Madrid and Madrid the best of the world and to continue building the city’s reputation and image as a global destination”.
For his part, Mariano de Paco, Deputy Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the Community of Madrid, highlighted that “the Community of Madrid has consolidated the tourism sector as one of its main economic engines by 2024, generating 8.6 per cent of its GDP in 2024, more than 25 billion euros, according to Exceltur. These figures reflect Madrid’s decisive commitment to tourism, and FITUR is key as a benchmark event for innovation, for the responsible development of tourism and for the visibility it gives to consolidated and emerging destinations”.
Finally, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosario Sánchez, underlined that “if 40 years ago Spain was at the forefront of tourism promotion with the creation of Turespaña -and precisely this year we will celebrate this anniversary-; today, Spain is once again demonstrating its capacity to lead a new transformation of the sector”.
