15
MEET IN EDICIÓN ESPECIAL FERIAS 2025 / SPECIAL EDITION FAIRS 2025 TENDENCIAS | TRENDS
nications, which allowed, for example, emergency medical care
via the Internet or the geolocation of insured clients anywhere
in the world.
2017 | Superhotels
After a signicant and long-standing economic crisis, the hotel
sector regained momentum in , despite the storm of the on-
slaught of tourist apartments and their lack of regulation, which
still lingers and threatens its market shares to this day. At that
time, the sector had been revitalized and new openings were an-
nounced nearly every day. It also undertook the reconversion of
spaces and the launch of new exclusive services, which included
experiences beyond a good night’s sleep.
e hotels’ income statements began to depend, in addition
to their income from rooms, restaurants, and events, on more
exclusive products, such as oers of activities at specic des-
tinations with local partners, as well as their own cultural pro-
gramming, and coworking spaces... e challenge was to reach
new market niches.
2018 | Experiences
In recent years, organizing events has become akin to creating
a complex symphony, in which all the instruments need to play
the chosen score at the same time and in harmony, given the
ever-increasing need to surprise the customers. Elements such
as technology and safety became very important during the
previous decade, along with other more novel aspects such as
sustainability. However, both then and now there is an essen-
tial aspect that cannot be omitted: the emotional component,
which, to a large extent, depends on creativity.
Corporate events became the central focus of companies’
marketing, and all activity in this area needed to be aligned with
their general objectives. en, the time came when corporate
events were no longer considered an expense, but an invest-
ment to bet on.
2019 | Loyalty
Loyalty has become a fundamental tool in a market as competi-
tive as Business Travel & , with the hotel and airline sectors
leading the way in terms of the number of members and pro-
gram benets oered. Over time, these systems came to mean
much more than a card to accumulate points, generating close
ties between brands and their customers.
As consumer trends become recorded thanks to big data, the
services provided become increasingly personalized and adapt-
ed to new needs. e new user requires freedom of action and
control of all processes, and state-of-the-art technology, as well
as customizing the oer to their interests and sharing experi-
ences with other users in real-time.
2020 | Paralysis
e coronavirus crisis literally turned the industry up-
side down. After the lockdowns, hotels and airlines nervously
resumed their activity, with countless precautions, and desti-
nations began casting lines to attract the rst visitors. For the
traveler, this represented a new beginning and a whole new
learning process. Now, there were endless rules, requirements,
and protocols to follow before, during, and after the trip. What’s
more, this also applied to tourism companies and managers.
Now, it all seems like a distant nightmare that made the word
“resilience” fashionable and that gave way, three years later, to
an extraordinary boom in travel that is allowing tourism provid-
ers a certain recovery, in a pendulum movement that will reach
its equilibrium at some point.
2021 | Take-Off
Despite facing shortcomings, diculties, and absences, tourism
fairs, such as Fitur, managed to generate a torrent of enthusiasm
from the tourism sector, with its sights set on recovery. Airlines,
hotel companies, mobility operators, travel agencies, destina-
tions... All of them faced that year, as well as the subsequent
ones, with big plans. As it turned out, there already was a pent-
up demand ready to explode.
While many saw the light at the end of the tunnel, they han-
dled the numbers with great caution. Uncertainty was still very
high and there was still a risk of new outbreaks of the disease.
Nevertheless, the optimism in the air was most contagious.
2022 | Sustainability
e lockdowns, as well as limited professional and personal in-
teractions for almost two years, coupled with a general reassess-
ment of values, led many people to reevaluate the rural environ-
ment, which was always there, although perhaps never so highly
valued. e approach of the activity to nature was not new,
but starting in , it made its way with force, as well as with
the magic word “sustainability.”
Coinciding with this trend, many companies began to direct
their strategy towards corporate social responsibility (), in
accordance with the United Nations Agenda. In addition
to decarbonization, they were taking measures for good govern-
ance, as well as for improving social and labor aspects, which
are now encompassed under the acronym ESG.
2023 | Artificial Intelligence
Last year was the year of the explosion ofarticial intelligence in
many areas of life and, of course, also in Business Travel & .
e revolution began occurring in practically all elds: econom-
ic, organizational, creative, social, cultural, business, and more.
However, human intervention is still necessary to direct and
complement a technology that is still dicult to regulate.
In any case, meeting planners have at their disposal a powerful
tool to improve planning, implement marketing actions, man-
age logistics and collect data to analyze attendees’ behavior and
preferences, an excellent way to personalize experiences.
2024 | Intermodality
In several European countries, the ongoing debate on banning
ights when there is a viable alternative by high-speed train has
given an unusual boost to rail transport, reinforced by the lib-
eralization that was pending in some member states, such as
Spain. Now more than ever, these two modes of transport are
forced to work together.
However, airplanes and trains are only two aspects of intermo-
dality. Another important element of intermodality in the city are
is transport alternatives that facilitate mobility, including buses,
metro, cabs, vehicles for hire, motorcycles, bicycles, and scooters.
Combining them is the main challenge faced by megacities on
their way to becoming true smart cities, in addition to the pro-
gressive electrication of the vehicles that circulate in them, par-
tially dampened by the lack of charging infrastructure.
