Madrid. EFE.- The King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, inaugurated this Wednesday the 43rd edition of the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which will run until next Sunday, with a massive tour of some exhibitors, including the from Guatemala, this year’s guest country.
At the stand of the Central American country, the kings greeted the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, with whom they will also have lunch today at the Palacio de la Zarzuela, the seat of the Spanish headquarters.
With the motto “Amazing and Unstoppable”, Guatemala is this year the guest country at the fair and as such occupies a huge stand where dancers dressed as animals performed the Dance of the Deer, a traditional Guatemalan dance in honor of the spirits of the animals.
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In an interview with EFE in Madrid, Giammattei assured that being the associated country this year in Fitur will allow the “physiognomy” of his republic to change, through the thousands of people who will visit this event.
Compared to 2019, marked by the pandemic, Guatemala had growth last year of 72% in the number of tourists and 86% in income from tourist spending.
The objective of the Central American country in this Fair is, according to its president, “to break any historical figure in tourism in the last two years.” “And we want it in quantity, quality and cost. We believe that we can achieve it, I believe that it is the moment of recovery and many people are already traveling, ”he said.
Fitur brings together representatives of 131 countries and 775 exhibitors over the next five days, as well as 8,500 participating companies, 131 countries and 755 exhibitors, among which this year the presence of Ukraine stands out, in the middle of the war with Russia.
