India partner country of FITUR 2018
A still from FITUR 2017 – outside the Feria de Madrid
Building on the diplomatic ties that celebrated the 60th-anniversary last year, India is set to become the partner country of Spain’s biggest travel and tourism show FITUR 2018.
India will be showcasing its destinations and tourism products as one of the leading markets in the global travel industry from January 17-21 at Feria de Madrid. Linking Incredible India! with FITUR, India aims to promote its rising destinations for business, trade and tourism.
This collaboration provides a close tie by linking the India brand to the International Tourism Trade Fair, allowing the new FITUR partner, whose presence has increased more than 30 pc at the Fair, to make the most of the event’s exceptional promotional potential and capitalise on it. In this way, the Asian country, under the slogan of ‘Incredible India’, will enjoy an important international showcase for promoting the destination.
Last year was the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Spain and India. Both countries are now forging ever closer ties through this alliance. The Asian country, with robust 7 pc growth in the past year, offers multiple business possibilities and is inviting companies to invest, especially those from industries where the country is a leading global power, prominent among them infrastructures, rail transport and tourism.
The ‘FITUR Partner’ initiative was implemented in 2016 and offers participants in the Trade Fair the opportunity of entering into a partnership programme, which, through its communication strategy, provides the destination with the utmost dissemination and reach.
Destination of opportunities
FITUR 2018 Logo unveiled with Incredible India as the partner country
Spanish tourism to India continues to grow. According to figures released by the Asian country’s Tourism Ministry, it received 76,342 Spanish tourists in 2016. Additionally, the increase in direct connections between Madrid and New Delhi has facilitated traveller flow between both nations and establishes the Spanish capital as the gateway to the Latin American market.
India received 14.6 million international tourists in 2016, 9.7 pc more than the previous year according to data released by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The country, located in southern Asia, is an attractive and exotic destination in which different cultures and religions converge, making this an ideal territory for discovery. International tourists can manage their visa application via the internet, facilitating the arrival of travellers in this destination, which boasts a wealth of history, customs, architecture, flavours and colours and many UNESCO-protected world heritage sites, among them the Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort, the Fatehpur Sikri citadel and Humayun’s Tomb.
International tourist reach
FITUR 2018 will be the global meeting point for tourism professionals and will again next year become the leading trade fair for Latin American inbound and outbound markets. The last staging saw the participation of 9,893 exhibitor companies from 165 countries/regions; 135,838 trade participants; and 109,134 visitors from the general public. Particularly noteworthy is the 18.8 pc growth in international trade visitors over the previous year. In addition, the volume of business appointments was as high as 6,800.
