Sitges is at the 45th International Tourism fair, Fitur, which is on in Madrid until Sunday. The town is being represented through the Catalan Tourist Board stand and under the umbrella of Barcelona Provincial Council. Regarded as one of the most important business meeting points for professionals in the tourist industry, the event offers opportunities for networking and collaboration to take on the challenges in this sector, notably in the spheres of sustainability and innovation. For the Councillor’s Office for Tourism at the Town Council, the fair marks the start of the action plan for 2025 and is also an opportunity for developing the projects in the Tourism Sustainability Plan in Destinations (PSTD). On a separate note, the year began with Sitges getting a nomination in the Travel Gossip awards as the best LGBTQ+ destination.

Fitur is set to bring together over 150,000 professionals and nearly 100,000 members of the public, with 156 countries represented and 9,500 companies exhibiting at the fair. The programme includes talks, discussions and round tables on topics such as artificial intelligence, innovation and digitalisation geared towards tourism.

Among the meetings planned by the Councillor’s Office, there will be a special emphasis on those focusing on the promotion of tourism. Interviews will also to be held with the directors of Spanish Tourist Offices abroad, mainly corresponding to markets of interest for Sitges defined in its tourism marketing plan, such as the UK, Germany, Sweden and Ireland. The goal is to find new channels of collaboration to help promote the town in the leading tourist markets for the destination.

Meetings are also planned with tourist consulting companies to move forward in the roll-out of different projects linked to the Tourist Sustainability Plan. The goal is to discover what different companies specialising in tourist intelligence systems are doing, and to see the latest developments and trends in the market. Interviews have also been planned with the DTI Network and Biosphere.

Notable projects and actions for 2025

The strategic projects that must be launched this year as part of the DTSP are being funded with 5 million euros in EU Next Generation Funds, with their goal being to improve tourist destinations working for social, economic and environmental development. The projects to be rolled out include the decarbonisation plan for local tourist companies, the technical secretaries to foster work on tourism in enogastronomy, culture and the nautical sphere, and the Tourist Intelligence System.

Work will also be carried out to renew the Biosphere Gold certification, which represents the destination’s backing for a sustainable model, and adhesion to the Network of Smart Tourism Destinations (STI). In addition to these actions come the 20th anniversary of the Sitges Convention Bureau and the activities to promote Catalonia as the Region of Gastronomy 2025.