IFEMA, the top planner of the International Travel Fair (FITUR 2005), is giving props to its own mesh of professional services in an effort to max out attendance and allow participants to make all preparations prior to their stay in Madrid. The tourism fair, penciled in as one of the world’s major events of its kind, will stretch out from January 26 to 30 next year at the Juan Carlos I Fairgrounds in the Spanish capital.

Though the 25th edition of Spain´s International Tourism Fair is still five months away, its organizers are mapping out a hands-on promotional campaign in an effort to target unexplored markets. Scheduled for January 26 through 30, 2005 at the Juan Carlos I Fairgrounds in Madrid, FITUR planners have already cranked up a far-reaching promotional blitz in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Gorgeous Acapulco will be home to next year’s Mexico Travel Market, a highly specialized business powwow that gathers buyers and providers of tourist services through prearranged contacts and meetings for two and a half days. The 30th edition of the Mexico Travel Market will bring together 450 companies and over a thousand buyers hailing from different countries around the globe.

With a final tally of 27 countries from the Americas, Europe and Asia, the 21st edition of the El Salvador International Fair (FIES is the Spanish acronym) came to a successful close after gathering some 380 companies that showcased their products and embarked on numerous negotiations. Attendants to the fair that ended last Sunday could take part in three business rounds aimed at making promotions and forging trade alliances.

Havana, the Cuban capital, celebrated its 485th anniversary on November 16 with a varied program that included history retelling, social functions, cultural events and recreational activities. A faithful advocate of colonial architecture in both Cuba and Latin America, the city of Havana was founded in 1519 as the village of San Cristobal de La Habana.

The London World Travel Market (WTM 2005) is marking its 25th anniversary with a bang. The event –scheduled from Nov. 8 to 11 in the British capital- has logged a new record of attendants, many of them from the Caribbean region, at the roomy ExCel Fairgrounds. Organizers said the world’s largest fair of the travel and tourism industry has this time around provided 39,000 square yards of exhibition space for over 5,000 companies from some 190 countries.