Important agreements, numerous business meetings and new clients, the assessment by FITUR exhibitors

SOUTH KOREA. Antonella De Angelis, from the Korea Tourist Organisation (KTO) Paris Office: “We are quite satisfied with our presence at the trade fair and with our participation as FITUR partner country. The 22 companies, tour operators, travel agencies, airlines, etc. that were present at our stand received a large number of visitors and held many business meetings. We also organised a large variety of activities, among these taekwondo demonstrations, traditional dances, calligraphy, gastronomy, etc. The South Korean Minister of Tourism was also at the stand”.

CHINA. Yuan Cao, Communication Manager for the Stand: “We received a large number of visitors and we promoted business and trade. The 12 companies in our stand held numerous meetings in their fields relating to airlines, tour operators and destinations. In total there were over 1,000 meetings, in addition to gastronomy and cultural events, as well as other activities”.

SINGAPORE. Ana M. Escribano, Stand Manager: “Great satisfaction on the numerous meetings scheduled and others that came about afterwards, held by the companies present in the stand, airlines being among these. There were also product presentations, celebrations and signing of agreements”.

MOROCCO. Khadija Bekkali, Head of Marketing and Communication with the Morocco Tourism Office in Madrid: “We held dozens of meetings with suppliers, tour operators, airlines, hotels, etc. and we signed several collaboration agreements”.

SENEGAL. Ramatoulaye Ba, Director of the Senegalese Tourism Promotion Agency: “We are very satisfied with the numerous meetings held and with our participation in INVESTOUR. The Senegalese Minister of Tourism visited our stand and we held over 200 business meetings”.

SOUTH AFRICA. Dimitrios Papaioannoy, Marketing Director: “The fact that Africa had a whole hall in this edition of FITUR led to a higher number and concentration of visitors, which has provided us with better visibility. We received thousands of visitors and we held dozens of meetings with suppliers, acquiring new contacts and agreements, in addition to presenting new tourist routes”. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Ámbar Alcántara, Stand Manager: “The balance of our participation at FITUR was quite positive, with a high number of visitors, hundreds of business meetings, and the presence of our country’s Minister of Tourism. Close to fifty co-exhibitors and companies have shown our products in the stand. We also signed important agreements such as the one with Iberia to increase the country’s promotion”.

PERU. Joan Barrena, Commercial Advisor for Peru in Spain: “The assessment is quite positive. Twenty companies were able to present their products in hundreds of business meetings. We were visited by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, who held a press conference. We also launched a skate competition for 2020 in Lima and another event based on world chefs that will be held in our country”.

PARAGUAY. Stand Manager: “We are quite happy with our presence at the Trade Fair, where we held several presentations for the press, promotion of companies and we were visited by the Minister of Tourism of Paraguay, who held several meetings, among these one with the Ministers of Tourism of the MERCOSUR and the WTO to organise World Tourism Day. This meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Tourism of Argentina and Uruguay, as well as the Secretary for Tourism of Chile and the Vice-Minister of Tourism of Brazil”.

TOKYO. Taeko Ueda, Tokyo Tourism Representative: “The 4 companies that were in our stand held dozens of business meetings within the field of hotels, services, transportation, travel agencies, etc. and they signed several agreements. We also held presentations for the press and for travel agencies, with hundreds of professionals, journalists and travel agencies”.

TURKEY. Teresa Herrero, Manager for Events and Trade Fairs: “The assessment of the 38 agencies, tour operators and hotel companies that were in our stand is very positive. We had more activity at the trade fair and we held meetings, mainly with Spanish travel agencies. We also established important contacts with companies from South America, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina”.

GREECE. Stand spokesperson: “We are very happy with the contacts established at FITUR by the 22 companies participating in our stand. We acquired new clients and we were able to improve relations with other partners, suppliers and clients who already knew us”.

THE NETHERLANDS. Xander Nievwenhuys, Stand Manager: “Our presence at the Trade Fair was very positive, as well as for the 11 co-exhibitors who were with us, among them theme parks, cruise lines, a diamond workshop, etc. We held hundreds of meetings with clients and established very interesting contacts”.

MOSCOW. Anastasia Popova, Stand Manager: “We received a large number of visitors who were interested in all aspects of Moscow, and we held festive and gastronomy events that were a great hit with the public. Additionally, the 4 hotels and the 5 tour operators participating in the stand held dozens of business meetings”.

AUSTRIA. Roberto Vallilengua, Stand Manager: “The group of 12 companies who exhibited jointly was quite successful with the public and with their business outlook in the hotel, tour operator and destination fields. We received over 1,000 visitors and we consolidated existing contacts and connections”.

NORWAY. Eugenia Fierros, Director of the Norway Tourism Office: “Our assessment is quite positive, especially regarding the scheduled appointments program organised by FITUR, which was quite interesting. The 10 companies in our stand held multiple meetings, almost all of them with incoming and destinations and, mainly, a lot of contacts with South America. In total, we counted over 300 meetings”.

EGYPT. Mohamed Ismael, Egyptian Tourism Authority: “We had 31 co-exhibitors, who have held meetings non-stop throughout the entire trade fair. We noticeably promoted business and we also organised important presentations, such as the one on the Great Egyptian Museum”.

VALENCIA. Cristina Guijeño, Tourism Chief of Press for the Valencian Community: “We increased by 40% the number of companies present at our FITUR stand this year. Among these, 146 companies specialising in products and 56 incoming agencies and hotel chains, who have held numerous meetings. In total, over 2,000 meetings were held, as well as multiple product presentations, wine and food tasting”.

ARAGON. Ana Azuara, from the Tourism Promotion Department of the Government of Aragon: “A positive assessment, with close to 20 co-exhibitors in the stand, who held hundreds of meetings and made over 40 presentations. Among these, the Aragon 2030 Sustainable Tourism Strategy was introduced, in alignment with the SDGs. We also held numerous activities pertaining to new technologies and active tourism”.

CANARY ISLANDS. Juan Hiemenz, Stand Manager: “The professional and business assessment was very positive and the institutional agenda was full, with a large number of meetings both in and outside of the stand. The business sector that was there -over 600 companies and 1,000 entrepreneurs- expressed their satisfaction regarding the higher number of visitors compared to other years, and the thousands of meetings that were held”.

PARADORES DE TURISMO DE ESPAÑA. Óscar López Águeda, President: “This was a very productive trade fair, and our assessment is quite positive. We signed 30% more contracts than in the previous edition, and we made a large amount of advance sales of products. We held important meetings with Asia, specifically with agencies and tour operators from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and China, as well as others with Mexico and the United States. Added to this are group trips, hospitality and new agreements, as well as a large number of direct sales of weekend gift boxes”.

TURESPAÑA. Octavio González Manteca, Head of International Trade Fairs: “Thousands of people visited our stand, where we held 40 activities. Among the main meetings were those held by the Queen, Doña Letizia, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez and the presidents of the Autonomous Communities. Our stand was also visited by Ministers of Tourism from various countries, and several agreements were signed. Also, the managers of the 33 Spanish Tourism offices abroad held around 200 meetings in our stand”.

IBERIA. Laura Tirado, Media Relations Manager: “We held a large number of meetings with travel agencies, companies, tour operators and tourism offices from many countries. FITUR is the place where many agreements are signed with tourism offices of other countries. For example, we signed agreements with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, etc. Also with Renfe, Costa Cruceros and El Corte Inglés. Another highlight was the presentation of a project by Iberia so that Spanish companies can compensate for their carbon footprint in their travels”.

RENFE. Ignacio Novo, Commercial Communication and Marketing Manager: “We held over 100 meetings with public institutions, city halls, regional government offices, Tourism council offices, companies, tour operators and travel agencies. And we signed 80 agreements with mayors from various Spanish cities”.

ADIF. Stand spokesperson: “This was one of our best years participating at FITUR. We came with double the exhibition floor space for this edition; therefore we were much more visible to professional visitors and to the public in general. They were very proactive and there was massive attendance at the talks that we organised”.

BALEARIA. Elena Santouja, with the Marketing Department: “The assessment was quite positive, with over 200 business meetings and a permanently busy stand. We held several events, with the attendance of a large number of visitors and we handed out awards to travel agencies, as well as other activities, with pets, for example”.

MELIÁ HOTELS INTERNATIONAL. Mario Tirado, Stand Manager: “The inspiration for the stand is a natural well, which helps to represent the essence of our brand Paradisus by Meliá, embracing nature and consolidating the opening next summer of our eco-resort Paradisus Playa Mujeres in Mexico. During the first three days of the fair we held over 450 scheduled meetings and over 119 direct visits”.

GRUPO JULIÀ. Luis Pérez, with the Commercial Department: “The meetings were quite productive and the scheduling of visits through the FITUR website was very successful. We held numerous meetings that brought us new clients and consolidated existing relations”.

GO GLOBAL TRAVEL. Stand spokesperson: “We held a great number of meetings with new clients and other existing clients and we strengthened relations, mainly with Spain and Latin America. A large number of travel agencies, hotel chains, technology companies, etc. visited our stand, and we held dozens of meetings with them throughout the entire trade fair”.

LIFE STYLE. José Luis Ferrer, Corporate Sales and Marketing Director: “Never had we held so many interviews at FITUR, with a full stand every day. We closed very favourable deals, for example with China, where we have opened a new market. We held around 25 meetings each day of the fair, as well as a dozen interviews with the media”.

NIXI 1. Juan Prim, founder: “This was the first time we participated at FITUR and the experience has been incredible, with a constant stream of clients, investors and suppliers. We held around 200 meetings with various companies, among them renowned travel agencies. We also organised a series of training sessions that were a great success”.

NEWHOTEL SOFTWARE. Pedro Matoso, CEO: “Professional meetings were better than other years, and the meetings held with new clients were very satisfactory, with important new contacts having been established. We held about half a dozen meetings every day”.

FNS ROOMS. Francisco Tamargo, Company Manager: “This is our seventh year at the fair and the balance is positive, with a steady number of visitors. We made a large number of professional contacts and we also unblocked a good number of projects. Additionally, we looked into the latest news on the industry. To summarise, the quality was quite high”.