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2021 FITUR: ARGENTINA COMES BACK TO FACE-TO-FACE FAIR IN SPAIN

On behalf of our country, a group of representatives led by Minister of Tourism and Sports Matías Lammens and INPROTUR’s Executive Secretary Ricardo Sosa will take part in one of the major tourism meetings worldwide, seeking to attract post-pandemic foreign investments and to show our country as a safe destination for biosecurity purposes.

Argentina is back in international fairs with a purpose that excels that of previous years: attracting foreign business and investment in post-pandemic times and having meetings with the most important businesspeople in Spain and the rest of Europe aimed at boosting the industry. 

After more than one year without face-to-face activity, as a result of the health difficulties posed by the pandemic, the National Bureau of Tourism Promotion (INPROTUR), on behalf of our country, will attend the 41st FITUR (International Tourism Fair), to be held from May 19th to 23rd in Madrid, Spain.

The small group of representatives, led by Minister of Tourism and Sports Matías Lammens and INPROTUR’s Executive Secretary Ricardo Sosa will also seek to show the world of tourism the extensive and careful work that our country is carrying out to welcome the international traveling community back.

As Lammens stated “The world is already thinking about the post-pandemic scenario and we must work for the recovery and the “day after” of a strategic sector for our local economy. By foreseeing how the vaccination process will evolve, we are able to plan what is next and think about positioning our country as one of the strongest destinations in our continent. This is why we are looking forward to attending the Madrid Fair: we are going to meet with the major travel agencies worldwide to leverage Argentina as a destination, with the airlines, to increase connectivity, and with the largest hotel chains and investors in the industry, to show them our country is worth including as a destination in their projects. We will also meet with our peers in Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Mexico and Peru. Tourism will be one of the major engines of the post-pandemic economic development of Argentina

Sosa highlighted that “the possibility of coming back to this major fair will give us the chance, among other objectives, to announce the great job we have done as regards biosecurity, with over ten health protocols in different languages, so that our country can be very well prepared to welcome world tourists back”.

FITUR is the largest tourism fair in Spain and one of the major ones worldwide, as confirmed by its latest statistics: about 260 thousand attendees, 150 thousand professionals, 11 thousand participating companies and 165 countries will gather for five days at IFEMA venue in the capital of Spain, for the purpose of bringing about new business and opportunities for tourism development.

In the last year, Argentina obtained some important results regarding future tourism. One of them was obtaining the Safe Travels Stamp, awarded by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). There are currently 23 Argentine provinces, more than 250 cities and over 3 thousand companies that have already been awarded the stamp.

The local team will also announce the good positioning of our country regarding post-pandemic tourism. With 49 protected areas – 36 of which are National Parks – the Argentine territory offers the ideal conditions to enjoy nature to the extreme and, at the same time, guarantee social distancing.

Our leadership in the MICE Tourism segment in the region, the on-going growth of LGBTQ Tourism, various recovery actions in the capital of Spain, as well as the development of tourism products such as golf will also be part of a wide range of proposals.

 Several entities, Aerolíneas Argentinas and private companies invited by the Argentine Chamber of Tourism will join the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and INPROTUR to hold business meetings and give presentations to professionals and the specialized press.

Spanish tourist Profile

Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, Argentina welcomed more than 970 thousand European tourists, and over 215 thousand of those were Spanish travelers. This means that the Spanish market was, once again, ranked first in the arrival of European tourists in Argentina and seventh in the total ranking of arrivals.

The main access is air (71%), followed by land (23%) and, to a lesser extent, water (6%). Buenos Aires, El Calafate and Puerto Iguazú rank first in the list of the most popular destinations.

Most Spanish tourists coming to Argentina are in the 30-44 age group (27%). Their favorite season for visiting is between November and December. The main reason for their trip is visiting friends and/or family (57%). The average stay is 23 nights, with an average spend of nearly 1,300 US dollars.

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