Ignacio Rodríguez:FITUR 2026 boosts Aragon's positioning as a benchmark destination

What is your assessment of Aragon's participation in FITUR 2026?

Generally positive, the stand and the tourism offer presented by Aragon was well received by the public. It is the most important trade fair of the year for Aragon and for the entire tourism industry, so a special effort is made in terms of image and tourist presentations. It has also been the first year that we have participated in FITUR Sports with our own stand and presentations, and the experience was also very positive.

It is worth highlighting not only the high degree of collaboration achieved with the Aragonese tourism industry, but also with other departments of the Government of Aragon (culture, environment, agriculture, sports, etc.).

What figures support this positive assessment?

It is difficult to provide exact figures on the number of people interested in the tourism offer presented by Aragon. Nevertheless, here at the Directorate General for Tourism we are very satisfied with the number of visitors and the number of professional meetings arranged by the industry, which is similar to the previous edition or even higher.

During the trade fair, a large number of meetings were held in a space dedicated to this purpose. In the case of Aragon, a "meeting point" area with 10 meeting tables was made available to the industry on a secondary stand of around 80 square metres on the first floor, and with busy activity throughout the fair. In the internal areas of the stand, the Aragon Government officials held several strategic meetings with airlines and the media; they also took advantage of FITUR's reach in Latin America, and Aragon's objective of promoting itself in the area’s countries, to hold several meetings with professionals from that region who were present at FITUR.

We received visits from different personalities, both political and technical, all of them directly or indirectly linked to the tourism industry. 

On 23 January, Aragon's institutional event was held at FITUR, led by the Vice-President of Aragon, centred on the presentation of special audiovisuals on the stand’s video wall. On the same day, the main presentations of Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel all took place, with the attendance of the main authorities of these institutions and, in the case of Zaragoza, the well-known actors Amaia Salamanca and Eduardo Noriega, together with film  director Miguel Ángel Lamata. On the 23rd, six WOW videos of Aragon were projected in large audiovisual format.

On the 21st, with the aim of reinforcing the positioning of Aragon as a territory of talent, product and culinary excellence, in collaboration with the Confederation of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Aragon, a private lunch was offered to leading journalists and influencers specialised in travel and gastronomy in our country: La Razón, Traveling Magazine, Esdiario, Condé Nast Traveler, Hola! Viajes, Hule y Mantel, Guía Repsol, Beat Content, together with influential digital profiles specialising in tourism and gastronomy. Three Michelin-starred establishments: La Prensa (Zaragoza), Casa Rubén (Huesca) and El Batán (Teruel), together with La Bastilla catering, were in charge of preparing it.

What messages did you want to convey from your stand and how did you go about it?

The main message projected on the stand and in the audiovisual set was “Aragon es el color, tu decides el viaje” (Aragon is the colour, you decide the trip), a claim that revolves around the colours and, specifically, the Pantone Aragon, Aragon being the only region to boats its own colour. Using Pantone Aragon as a common thread, tourist information was offered through different colours, each one representing a different segment, which helped to make Aragon known to the visitor in an attractive and differentiating way.

The visitor experience at the Aragon stand was structured around a central square and five circular attention points, which acted as thematic nodes identified chromatically. These spaces represented nature and adventure, spirituality and cultural heritage, astro-tourism and the accommodation and hospitality offer, food and wine and experiences, as well as Aragon as an integral destination, with the presence of the three provinces and the capitals Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel.

From a technological point of view, the stand integrated touch screens, tourist information tablets, vertical digital totems and a holographic projection system with representative icons, as well as specific soundscapes for each thematic area. As a differential element, an olfactory section was added with aromas linked to Aragon, which were activated synchronised with the audiovisual content, completing a sensory-driven experience coherent with the chromatic narrative of the space.

There were tastings of Designation of Origin ham, participation in a quiz and tombola with personalised prizes, interaction with a 3D metahuman virtual assistant programmed with AI, called Pilar, conceived as an emotional tourist guide, who guides the visitor based on questions linked to the stand's slogan. At the end of each day, the "Marchica Hour" was also staged, with music, snow videos and videos of the Marchica area of the Formigal-Panticosa ski resort, cocktails by the association of maître d’s and barmen of Aragon, and ARAMON group ski passes were raffled to enjoy the Aragonese ski resorts. The stand incorporated specific audiovisual content linked to leisure and entertainment such as Marchica, Seas como seas, Antorchas Valdelinares, Mexperience, Mugas, Tobogganing, Competitions and Ratrack, which reinforced the projection of snow and event tourism.

As a central element of the stand throughout the fair, an immersive experience was proposed by means of an immersive screen of more than 200 square metres (about 25 metres long by 7 metres high) and a 60 square metre walkable LED floor, which allowed visitors to discover Aragon in an innovative way and with a great visual impact.

What messages did you want to convey from your stand and how did you go about it? 

The main message projected on the stand and in the audiovisual set was “Aragon es el color, tu decides el viaje” (Aragon is the colour, you decide the trip), a claim that revolves around the colours and, specifically, the Pantone Aragon, Aragon being the only region to boats its own colour. Using Pantone Aragon as a common thread, tourist information was offered through different colours, each one representing a different segment, which helped to make Aragon known to the visitor in an attractive and differentiating way.

The visitor experience at the Aragon stand was structured around a central square and five circular attention points, which acted as thematic nodes identified chromatically. These spaces represented nature and adventure, spirituality and cultural heritage, astro-tourism and the accommodation and hospitality offer, food and wine and experiences, as well as Aragon as an integral destination, with the presence of the three provinces and the capitals Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel.

From a technological point of view, the stand integrated touch screens, tourist information tablets, vertical digital totems and a holographic projection system with representative icons, as well as specific soundscapes for each thematic area. As a differential element, an olfactory section was added with aromas linked to Aragon, which were activated synchronised with the audiovisual content, completing a sensory-driven experience coherent with the chromatic narrative of the space.

There were tastings of Designation of Origin ham, participation in a quiz and tombola with personalised prizes, interaction with a 3D metahuman virtual assistant programmed with AI, called Pilar, conceived as an emotional tourist guide, who guides the visitor based on questions linked to the stand's slogan. At the end of each day, the "Marchica Hour" was also staged, with music, snow videos and videos of the Marchica area of the Formigal-Panticosa ski resort, cocktails by the association of maître d’s and barmen of Aragon, and ARAMON group ski passes were raffled to enjoy the Aragonese ski resorts. The stand incorporated specific audiovisual content linked to leisure and entertainment such as Marchica, Seas como seas, Antorchas Valdelinares, Mexperience, Mugas, Tobogganing, Competitions and Ratrack, which reinforced the projection of snow and event tourism.

As a central element of the stand throughout the fair, an immersive experience was proposed by means of an immersive screen of more than 200 square metres (about 25 metres long by 7 metres high) and a 60 square metre walkable LED floor, which allowed visitors to discover Aragon in an innovative way and with a great visual impact. 

What was the design of your stand like?

This year, rather than a specific design, we opted for audiovisual communication through the projection of thematic blocks with films of Aragon on this large video wall. Therefore, the big challenge was to create a great audiovisual ensemble that would show Aragon as it is, and the main new features and tourism products. It made a big impact on visitors to the Spanish destinations because it was the only stand in this format.

The thematic blocks of videos, linked to the different colours of the stand, replaced the traditional format of institutional and oral presentations, giving the trade fair a more innovative, modern, audiovisual and entertaining format. All this content was screened continuously throughout the day. For its creation, we counted on the collaboration of counties, provincial councils, capitals, associations, etc. that contributed audiovisual pieces and news with the aim of building a common, impressive and coherent story of Aragon’s tourism offer.

Thus, in the area of colour Aragón, as an integral destination, large format audiovisuals were screened, such as Aragón tu reino (Aragon, your kingdom), Aragón un lugar para vivirlo todo (Aragon, a place to experience everything), Aragón con alma (Aragon with soul), Aragón en familia (Aragon with the family), Aragón pruébalo y verás (Aragon, try it and you’ll see), Día de San Jorge (Saint George's Day), The Wave, Mudéjar Aragón, Aragón Astrotourism, Aragón tierra de cultura (Aragon, land of culture), Pueblos más bonitos de España (Most Beautiful Villages in Spain), Goya es lo que es por ser aragonés, and Aragón abre camino.

The nature and adventure theme projected content, such as Pirineo-prepirineo, Sabiñánigo puerto del Pirineo, Bajo Cinca, Camino Natural de la Hoya de Huesca, Descenso de navatas, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza destino sostenible, Jiloca Infinita, Gran Reserva, De Tronchón, Pasarelas del Guadalope, Spot Silencios Andorra, Las golondrinas, Far West Calatayud, Panticosa novedades 2026, Aventura DPH, Gran Trail Benasque, Canfranc Trail, Cicloturismo de Huesca (cycle tourism in Huesca), Starmountain Gúdar Javalambre, Escuela de esquí de Panticosa, All Radical Free Ride+ and Tu Huesca Aventura.

The cultural heritage and spirituality block included presentation pieces, such as Experiencia andalusí, Piedra Monastery, San Juan de la Peña Monastery, Three cathedrals in the diocese of Monzón, Hydria: Tarazona Cathedral, Calatayud three cultures, Comarca of Tarazona, Festival de los castillos (Festival of the castles), Un paseo por Sigena, Encantos de las cuencas mineras, Escenario estepario del campo de Belchite, Ruta nocturna de iglesias (Evening tour of churches), El susurro eterno de dos almas, Dinópolis, Teruel province fairs, Goya destino Zaragoza (Goya, destination Zaragoza), Zaragoza Turismo, Siente Teruel and Teruel superpoder.

In the field of astrotourism and unique experiences, content such as Teruel where the stars are born, Astrotourism, feel the universe, Starmountain Gúdar Javalambre and Eclipse were incorporated, together with proposals linked to events and experiential activities.

Food and wine tourism and the hospitality offer were shown through videos such as Aragón sabor de verdad, Somontano Wine Route, Cariñena Wine Route, Garnacha Wine Route, Garnacha Zaragoza, Guara Somontano Olive Oil Tourism, Cinco Villas Gastronomy, Gastro Zaragoza, Benasque Gastronomy, Huesca Gastronomy, videos of Michelin-starred establishments, Wow Michelin, Arex este es mi mundo, Confederación de Empresarios de Hostelería (Confederation of Hospitality Business Owners), Calatayud, Borja and Sabor de Verdad.

In your opinion, how will Aragon's participation in FITUR 2026 affect the promotion of tourism in this autonomous region?

It will continue to contribute to positioning Aragon as a benchmark inland destination, both nationally and internationally.