The recently concluded 43rd edition of the International Tourism Fair, Fitur 2023 in IFEMA Madrid saw a 50% rise in international participation on last year with the strongest growth in Asia-Pacific at 163%.

Inaugurated by King Felipe and Queen Leticia, the event recovered the attendance and exhibition figures prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, with participation from Africa and the Middle East rising 88% and 60%, respectively.

The Turespaña stand in Pavilion 9 of IFEMA had two auditoriums, four large format screens and an exhibition area, where a wide range of presentations, forums, debates, exhibitions and other activities were offered.

The three themes of the main events revolved around "Tourism, Culture and Heritage", "Urban Tourism" and the challenges facing the sector following the recovery and the major projects of Turespaña.

The Royal Collections Gallery, the new museum centre of Patrimonio Nacional, one of Spain's international promotional attractions, was discussed. In addition, Turespaña presented the results of the first "NetflixTurespaña" Short Film Competition, the tourist use of Heritage, Transformation and Resilience through the case of Paradores and a new project for 2023 was presented, the documentary series with Spanish televisión "This is Spain".

Another new feature of this year's edition was the launch of Fitur Sports, organised in collaboration with the Afyfad association, which showed how sports tourism is a driver of sustainable growth for the tourism industry.

This year Turespaña was also present online. In addition, our social media channels, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube of Turespaña, were open to follow activities at the stand.

Sustainability was the strategic focus of Turespaña's activity, promoting a more responsible tourism, with a sustainable stand with a zero carbon footprint. The stand included a dynamic real-time measurement of the carbon footprint generated by visitors, and the number of trees to be planted to compensate for it.

During the weekend a programme of events aimed at the general public: guided tours of the exhibition at the Royal Collections Gallery, viewing of the winning short films from the competition organised with Netflix and many more activities.

The fair brought together total of 8,500 participants from all the autonomous communities, companies and destinations from 131 countries, 90 of them with official international representation.

In addition, the estimated number of visitors exceeded 120,000 professionals and between 80,000 and 90,000 visitors from the general public during the weekend of the fair. – TradeArabia News Service