FITUR Madrid Tourism Fair opens its doors to visitors.
FITUR Madrid Tourism Fair, one of the leading international events in the tourism sector, has opened its doors to visitors. Bringing together a large number of industry representatives from Spain as well as from Latin American, European and African countries, the fair once again maintains its status this year as an important meeting point for global tourism professionals.
Due to the tragic train accident that occurred recently in Spain and caused deep distress across the country, the fair began this year with a different programme. Because of the tragedy, for the first time King Felipe VI of Spain did not attend the official opening ceremony on the first day of the fair. The fair's official opening was carried out today by King Felipe VI of Spain. Nüket Küçükel Ezberci, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the Kingdom of Spain, also visited the fair and received information from participants about ongoing activities and developments in the sector.
Having expanded its total area by 10 percent compared to the previous year, the fair is being held across 9 halls and hosts more than 10,000 companies, 967 of which are main exhibitors, from 161 countries.
Türkiye is taking part in the fair through an organisation coordinated by the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), while the Turkish Hoteliers Association (TÜROB) is being represented within the 400-square-metre Türkiye stand located in Hall 4 by President Müberra Eresin, Secretary General İsmail Taşdemir, and Board Members Mustafa Topaloğlu, Nuri Kalyoncu, Ayhan Hacıbektaşoğlu and Ayhan Hüzmeli. In addition, 35 different organisations are present at the Türkiye stand, contributing to the promotion of the country's tourism.
In her assessment of the first day of the fair, TÜROB President Müberra Eresin, who attended the event, drew attention to the strong potential that the Spanish and Latin American markets hold for Türkiye. Noting that intensive efforts are being carried out together with all sector stakeholders, foremost the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), to achieve a stronger position in these markets, Eresin said: “We believe we can comfortably reach an annual figure of one million tourists from Spain and Latin America to our country. Indeed, the number of visitors coming to our country from Spain is following a steady upward trend. In 2025, the number of visitors from Spain rose by 20 percent to 450,000. One of the most important factors strengthening our expectations for 2026 has been the positive developments in air transport between the two countries. According to the information we have obtained at the FITUR Fair, the weekly flight frequency between Spain and Türkiye has risen to 126. In addition to the existing flights operated by Turkish Airlines and Pegasus, Air Europa has increased its Barcelona–Istanbul flights from 4 to 7; moreover, as of 12 May 2026 it will begin operating 7 weekly flights on the Madrid–Istanbul route. Vueling Airlines, which flies the Barcelona–Istanbul route, is increasing its weekly flights to 13. On the Istanbul–Seville flights that Turkish Airlines recently launched, we anticipate that the current weekly frequency of 4 will be increased in the coming period. In addition, AJet's launch of Ankara–Barcelona and Ankara–Madrid flights is an extremely positive and strategic development for the market. It is highly gratifying that, on the first day of the fair, both we and the sector representatives attending from Türkiye have been met with interest exceeding our expectations. We hope that this positive atmosphere will be strongly reflected in the Spanish and Latin American markets in the short term. On the other hand, the tragic train accident that recently occurred in Spain has deeply saddened us all. On this occasion, we extend our condolences to the Spanish people, remember those who lost their lives with mercy, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
FITUR Madrid Tourism Fair will be open to visitors until Sunday, 25 January 2026.
For detailed information https://www.ifema.es/en/fitur