Catalonia leads fair market in Spain despite crisis

El Vendrell (ACN).- Despite the social and economic crisis, Catalonia is leading the fair activity in Spain. The president of the Fair Federation of Catalonia (FEFIC), Jordi Martí, said this today at the 17th Fair Conference in the town of El Vendrell. According to a study by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona, from 2008 to 2009, fairs continued to be an important economic engine for the country. The General Director of Trade of the Catalan Government, Gema Puig, explained that fair activity generated 2,372 million euros and 30,000 direct and indirect jobs for 2008 and 2009.

Despite the economic crisis, 2009 saw more fairs than 2008 and there are already 441 fairs planned for 2011, much more than in the last few years. Tarragona hosted 68 fairs, or 15.42%, and Barcelona hosted almost 200 fairs, around 44.9%. Multi-sector fairs made up the largest category, with 105 fairs, followed by food-related fairs (92) and craft fairs (81).

The future of fairs

Objectives for the future include selling more exposition space, offering more services, improving client portfolios for visitors and investigating measures to guarantee investment returns for the businesses that take part in the various fairs throughout the country.

The most important objectives are to promote product innovation, target future trends and establish more fairs that focus on the territory.