FITUR takes over Madrid: Make a Panamá hat, visit the Metaverse and plan your holidays

ONE of the world's biggest tourism trade fairs, and one of the oldest – having been running every year since 1979 – is open in Madrid until Sunday evening, and almost every city, town and village in Spain, however small, has included at least one key feature of itself on its regional or provincial stand.

FITUR is the chance for the least-known locations to showcase themselves to the entire planet, and the most established ones to remind businesses and the general public on every continent of what they do best, or market completely different aspects of themselves in a bid to diversify.

It takes place yearly at Madrid's IFEMA exhibition centre, reached via metro Line 8 which is now operating 70% extra services until late on Sunday.

And the 2022 FITUR fair takes place over its usual dates – between the second and third weeks in January – for the first time since 2020, when fears of the Coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan, China spreading beyond the city borders were almost nil.

Last year's edition could have been called off, but with the oldest residents in Spain and most key public workers vaccinated, and many of those in their 60s and 70s having been summoned for their first dose, the organisers decided it would be fairly safe to hold FITUR 2021 in May.

Now it's back to normal – subject to compulsory FFP2 or superior-protection masks being worn, Covid 'passport' display at the entrance, and social distancing measures in place – Spain hopes FITUR will help to boost its tourism industry through exposure, and through striking deals with global travel companies.

The aim is to get foreign holidaymaker numbers back to the level of 2019, pre-pandemic, which saw a record 83.7 million people visit the country – nearly twice the year-round population of Spain.

Spanish destinations showcase their best bits, famous or little-known

Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso said ahead of the opening on Wednesday, January 19 that her government intended to promote the capital and its wider province 'like the last Coca-Cola in the desert', and many traditional sun, sea and sand destinations nationwide have been working on highlighting their other attractions, such as cuisine, countryside, historical monuments, theme parks and special one-off events.

Among these is the promised Balenciaga exhibition in Jávea, northern Alicante province, running from July 1 to September 30 inclusive and displaying some of the late haute couture designer's best pieces in the town 30 kilometres from his Altea home where he passed away during a short holiday in March 1972.

Other fun features of this year's FITUR include handicrafts made entirely from fruit on the Thailand stand, a Panamá hat-weaving demonstration in the booth for the Central American nation of the same name, designer clothing bearing poetry and love letters in Arabic script on the Tunisia stand – having revived an ancient art through the fashion industry – and the chance to have your name written in the Korean alphabet on a fan in the pavilion for South Korea, where this hand-held summertime staple was invented in the 10th century.

FITUR number-crunching

Each year, a different country is named as the FITUR 'star', and this year it is the Dominican Republic, a former colony of Spain and Spanish-speaking country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haïti, and whose capital, Santo Domingo, is thought to be the first dry land Christoper Columbus, or Cristóbal Colón in his native Spanish, landed on during his 1492 mission that ended with his 'discovery' of the Americas.

FITUR 2022 sees a total of 6,933 stands within eight separate pavilions, featuring travel companies and destinations from 107 countries, with 60,000 professional exhibitors or representatives and 30,000 members of the public joining in.

This means 90,000 visitors in total – or 50% more than in 2021, when around 62,000 passed through the IFEMA gates.

The 'hybrid' presence formula introduced in 2021 continues, meaning visitors, professionals and entire nations can take part via the FiturLIVEconnect platform which will remain open until February 4.

Novel features this year

New features include FITUR Cruises, dedicated entirely to cruise travel, and a 'Metaverse' pavilion where visitors create their own avatar.

The latter is divided into four sections – a cave, representing modern humans' earliest communication methods; a room representing ancient communication channels between villages and communities; a section focusing on the birth of television and its key rôle in making news, messages and information accessible to everyone, and a zone highlighting the journey of the internet from its origins to modern-day use.

The fifth and final section, dedicated to the Metaverse, is where visitors are 'scanned' and an avatar created.