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Madrid, Spain, Jan. 20. (PxP).- With the completion of 625 appointments between Colombian and European wholesale businesses, the planting of 870 trees to mitigate the carbon footprint and the presence of more than 18 thousand people at the stand, professional activities at Fitur 2012 ended, and the planned activities for end users began. The 36 Colombian businessmen and regional promotion organizations were present at the fair, one of the most important in the world in this sector, having appointments at the Colombian exhibition stand prepared by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, and PROCOLOMBIA, with the support of the Tourism Promotion Fund. " Our balance is very positive, it has been extraordinary, we really haven' t stopped meeting people, especially those who weren' t just strolling around, but actually coming to do business. We made very good contact with our customers of many years, and also with new people whose interest in the destination is growing," said Elsa de Barrera of Vitramar, who stated that the stand has " a fantastic image." |
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The concept of the Colombian exhibition stand at Fitur 2012 was the display windows, through which tourism products like Nautical Sports and Cruises, Sun and Beach, History and Culture, Nature, Coffee, Welfare and Meetings were promoted, with the support of actors who gave life to each one. During the first three days of the event, at least 650 tropical fruit ice creams were handed out, a novel way to promote the country as a destination while encouraging exports. Attendees at the stand can simultaneously download recipes to their mobile devices to enjoy typical Colombian fruit juices. In the three-day fair for the professional audience more than 7,000 glasses of Club Colombia beer were served. On the third day alone, six thousand cups of Juan Valdez coffee were served by the man himself, who was serving visitors at the stand in which the concept of display windows blended in with the offering of tourism products in Colombia. " We see a large affluence of small agencies, small participants in the tourism sector, then we see an evolution and we have to react to this very quickly," said Juan Carlos Pradilla, General Manager of 101 Park hotel in Bogota. On the other hand, Rafael Maldonado, Contacts director, said that " the balance has been good, we had about 16 visits a day, and participated in INVESTUR, a sort of business conference facilitated by IFEMA to meet other interested entrepreneurs. All our clients have visited us, and we also had the opportunity to meet new companies not only from Spain but also in northern Europe, who are interested in Colombia as a tourist destination." The regional promotion agencies involved were the Cartagena de Indias World Heritage City, the Quindio Governor' s Office, the Medellin Convention Bureau, IDT Bogota, the Santiago de Cali City Hall, and the Atlantico Province Joint Promotion Committee. Also the International Theater Festival of Bogota had a representation in the booth where it introduced one of the most important cultural events of the nation' s capital. In addition to Avianca airlines, other attending entrepreneurs were Amaterra, Gema Tours, Contactos, Natura Travel de Colombia Ltda., Nueva Lengua, Grupo Welcome S.A., LSM, Colombia 57, Omni tours, All Reps Receptivo, Panamericana de Viajes, Turismo al Vuelo, Vitramar, Incotur (Incentives, congresses and tourism) and Corfecali (congresses and conventions). Hotel sector participants included Hoteles Dann, Art Hotel, Hotel Capilla del Mar, 101 Park House, GHL Hoteles, Anandá Boutique Hotel, Hotel Cartagena Plaza, Hotel Santa Clara, Hotel Caribe, Decameron and Hotel Almirante. Exploration by SMEs This year, for the first time, a group of SMEs participated in Fitur 2012, which became familiar with the industry. Among them, El Cantil, El Almejal, Atravex - American Travel Experience, Paipa Tours, Amonita, Boyacá Tours, Ecolombia Tours and Ecoturismo Sierra de la Macarena. Guillermo Gomez Fernandez, manager of El Cantil de Nuquí, in the province of Chocó, indicated that their presence in Madrid was " an opportunity to understand how the markets work we had meetings with large operators who have given us great tips and pointers to enter the market, and the terms, which serves as an argument for future marketing and sale of our products." The fair opens its doors to the public this Saturday. Colombia will continue to promote destinations and products, and feature the Vallenato King, Alvaro Mesa. | |||
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