The International Tourism Trade Fair, FITUR stages its 29th edition which will take place at Feria de Madrid between January 28 and February 1, 2009. The staging of this edition will mark the renewal of its commitment to the industry. In this respect, new initiatives shall be undertaken to serve tourism professionals and to strengthen its international dimension.

To date, around 80 percent of the participants at the last edition have confirmed their attendance at FITUR?09. Based on this marvelous response, the fair’s organizers are working on various different measures, such as conferences and coinciding activities.

Along with the new features that are due to be presented by the exhibitors themselves, these measures will consolidate the fair’s role as an effective meeting-point for all members of the tourist industry.

Furthermore, new issues of the digital newsletter known as FITUR NEWS will also shortly be published. This periodic publication will offer information regarding the fair, including new features to be presented by exhibitors and news relating to the industry. It will be circulated to more than 75,000 tourism professionals.

For the second consecutive year, FITUR will once again occupy the entire exhibition space available at the exhibition centre (200,000 square meters), with the halls presenting some important new features and improvements, especially after the completion of the work on Halls 12 and 14 and the establishment of the new East Gate.

The twenty-ninth edition of the International Tourism Trade Fair will maintain the same layout and the same sections as before, thus facilitating the orientation of trade visitors. The entire area available in Hall 2 will once again be devoted to visitor registration, which will improve access to the fair enclosure enormously.

In this respect, the products and services offered by companies will be on show in Halls 4, 12 and 14.0. The rest of the even-numbered halls will house the international section: Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the international hotel chains and global companies will feature in Hall 6; America is presented in Hall 8; Europe, North Africa and the Near East appear in Hall 10.

As far as the national section of the fair is concerned, the Official Spanish Bodies and Organizations will be distributed throughout the odd-numbered Halls 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Furthermore, FITUR CONGRESOS, to be staged between January 26 and 27, 2009, will be located in Hall 14.1.