FITUR, which is due to take place in Madrid (Spain) from January 22-26, has launched a campaign in the social media for Europe and the Americas aimed at boosting their use as a tool for promoting tourism and fostering closer ties with opinion-leaders within the industry.

This will be the main theme of the Seventh Exceltur Forum, an event organised by the employer’s association, EXCELTUR, in collaboration with the UNWTO and FITUR. The forum will take place on January 21, the day before the commencement of FITUR. The guiding theme at the meeting will be “Tourism: A Key Industry for Strengthening a Country’s Brand”, which aims to bring together wide-ranging representation from the international tourist industry and from the worlds of politics and business.

Intelligent destinations will also be subject to debate, based on an analysis of different trends and success stories presented at the trade fair by SEGITUR and the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX) within the framework of Fitur Know- How & Export. Other themes of interest will include Googleglass, in its capacity as a tool for discovering destinations via the Internet.

FITUR will also join the growing world of apps with the staging of the First Tourism Apps Competition, organised within the framework of Fitur Know-How & Export. This Competition will select the best Spanish application for the tourist industry within four different categories (Active Tourism, Sun & Beach Tourism, Cultural Tourism and an Open Category), as well as the best foreign tourist application in the category of Best Destination Guide. An award will also go to the apps that most enhance the way in which tourists experience their trip.

As part of the rise of new technologies, FITUR is also heading a number of innovative initiatives, promoting the Internet as a tool for tourism promotion and dissemination and a means of bringing professionals together. FITUR has joined the Russian social network, V Kontakct, which is aimed at the tourism industry that operates in all Russian-speaking countries. Russian tourism is still incipient in Spain, but presents the highest rate of growth of any nationality.

FITUR has also launched its FITUR Travel Bloggers Competition for the second consecutive year, an initiative that has been designed to be developed via the Internet. The awards will be presented in person at the trade fair, with the two best bloggers selected from Europe and the Americas being invited to attend FITUR.

FITUR, www.ifema.es