Warsaw at FITUR 2020 in Madrid

On 22–26 January 2020, the IFEMA trade fair and conference centre in Madrid hosted the 40th anniversary edition of FITUR – the most important industry event for Spanish-speaking markets.

This year, in cooperation with the Warsaw Tourist Office, we had the opportunity to represent Warsaw alongside representatives from Krakow and Gdansk.

The Polish national stand, organised by the Polish Tourist Organisation, gathered a total of 12 exhibitors from all over the country, including two WOT members: Mazurkas Travel Poland and Furnel Travel.

Traditionally, the first three days of the fair were aimed at professionals from the tourism industry. During the fair, the Polish stand hosted, among other things, a meeting of city representatives with bloggers and a reception for Polish exhibitors. During the weekend, the IFEMA centre opens its doors to the general public and the city and national stands are focused on promotion among individual tourists. Visitors to the Polish stand could try traditional Polish delicacies, take part in a workshop on making and decorating pralines by hand and treat themselves to a birthday cake to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Polish Tourism Organisation. Throughout the fair, chocolate-making demonstrations were also held, organised by the Krakow restaurant Wierzynek.

We were positively surprised by the scale of interest and the level of knowledge about Warsaw among the Spanish. Many visitors to the WOT stand had already planned to come to Poland and Warsaw, often based on recommendations from friends or family.

The FITUR fair itself, promoted for many years on Spanish radio, in the press and on the metro, enjoys incredible popularity.  

We therefore believe that consistent image-building activities on this market bring concrete results for the city and representatives of Warsaw tourism.