Fitur in Madrid
was the last major tourism conference to take place
before the Covid pandemic disrupted the world
and it is the first since
agreed with ITB Berlin and WTM London
that Fitur would hold a face to face event
the first in our changed tourism world
it was going to be be very different
it was going to be much smaller
Every single delegate had to be tested before they were admitted
the testing procedure caused a little bit of a delay the first day
but responded, quite remarkably,
when you think of even the reduced numbers coming to Fitur
A lot of the pageantry was there too
celebrity guests and people queueing to meet them
a place to meet old friends,
renew old acquaintances and for new encounters
Most of all, it was a place to test the mood of Spain
European tourism, and world tourism in general
Overall, there was
sense of euphoria that the event had taken place at all
the aisles would be crowded at Fitur
Not this year.
People talked about last summer
how it was important not to go through a second summer
with the degree of losses that they had in 2020
They talked about international regulation
and the lift given by the announcement on the Thursday
the European union was going to introduce
the digital green certificate
They talked about how the Spanish tourism industry had kept its shape
They talked about local regulations to make things safer
On Friday came the big announcement
Spain is opening its doors again from June 7
it is going to align with the European Union digital green certificate
People who have been vaccinated can arrive
without a negative PCR test
as the applause died off from Pedro Sanchez's big announcement
the questions began
the biggest and most important
is what happens people who have NOT been vaccinated
people of a younger age group
and especially the teenagers
because Spain is going to require that everyone over six years of age
has either a vaccination or a negative PCR test
There is a way out for the big Northern European source markets
that is to get their incidence rate
14 day cumulative per 100k population rate down
to a level that Spain has decided does not require a negative PCR test
but what will that level be?
are we back to the definitions of last October when 25 was the level
or are we going to look to Germany
who put 150 as its level in recent announcements?
They re all the factors that have to play out in the coming weeks and months
We should leave the last word on Fitur to tourism minister Fernando Valdes
Fernando learned his English in Ireland
as did the president Pedro Sanchez
It is always interesting to hear the little Irish idioms
when either of them take some questions at press conferences
Fernando studied at Trinity College for his Erasmus year
His last trip before the Covid outbreak
hie brought his family up the west coast, Dingle peninsula, the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Mayo
and, his favourite, Donegal
In a wide ranging interview
He talked about summer 2021,
how it is going to be different
when Spain opens, it is going to stay open
and there are not going to be regional variations
the new tourism that Spain is planning for the next 25 years
is going to be based on sustainability, quality
and a digital experience
before people travel to Spain
and he talked about Fitur
how important it was to get this iconic tourism event
up and running, even in its reduced state
We look forward to Fitur 2022
We do not know how different the
industry and the world will be when that comes round