FITUR 2025 once again proved to be a major meeting point for tourism, but this year—especially for the Canary Islands and destinations like Fuerteventura—something stood out: the conversation is no longer only about promotion, but about how to manage destinations better with data, collaboration and useful technology.
The Canary Islands came to Madrid with a set-up that reflects the Archipelago’s weight in the sector: 375 Canarian companies and 1,315 accredited agents, plus a larger stand with a sustainable design approach.
At the fair itself, Islas Canarias received the Best Stand Award in the Institutions and Regional Governments category—no small feat at an event featuring 806 stand-holding exhibitors from 152 countries and regions. The award recognises a space conceived to be cutting-edge, functional and versatile, but also sustainable: a sign that the destination’s proposal goes beyond storytelling and starts to materialise into choices aligned with tourism’s current challenges.
That same message is also shaping the sector’s tech conversation. In this context, MNX Online took part in several of the forums where the next steps of tourism digitalisation in Spain are being defined—with one clear idea: moving from talking about transformation to making it operational in real cases, with data and clear rules.
At this fair, data is no longer a “trend”—it’s infrastructure
FITUR reinforced a message we’ve championed for years: if we want more competitive, sustainable and efficient destinations, we must move beyond dashboards and isolated initiatives.
The key is a shared foundation: data that can be exchanged with trust, respecting privacy, security and inter-organisational agreements. That’s where data spaces take their rightful place—as infrastructure that enables public–private collaboration with guarantees.
In Fuerteventura’s case, it was encouraging to see innovation being integrated into the destination’s narrative and into the schedule of side events and presentations around the fair—evidence that data is already recognised as a strategic asset for destination management.
MNX Online and TOURiLab at SEGITTUR Lab: Canarias Tech
One highlight in our agenda was joining SEGITTUR Lab: Canarias Tech, within FITUR Know-How & Export—a space to share approaches, tools and real experiences around tourism digitalisation and sustainability.
MNX Online and TOURiLab were the only company from Fuerteventura present in this space, sharing the stage with leading tech players from across the Archipelago. We presented cases and work lines based on:
- Data spaces applied to tourism.
- Open technology and European standards to avoid vendor lock-in.
- Solutions focused on smart territorial management, with a strong sustainability lens.
Our goal was clear: to show in practical terms how to move from “we want to be a smart destination” to an operational model where data becomes decisions—planning, service sizing, sustainability, visitor experience, efficiency and multi-actor coordination.
Co-creation in the PIA sandbox: design before deploying
We also took part in the national co-creation workshop of the Open Innovation Platform (PIA) sandbox, under the Smart Destinations Platform (PID)—as the only invited Canarian representative in this working session.
PIA has a bold ambition: to become a framework where the tourism ecosystem can collaborate, test and evolve solutions before scaling them to market. As outlined by SEGITTUR, PIA relies on three pillars: a sectoral data space, a sandbox and a marketplace.
PID’s north star is to integrate data and stakeholders across the tourism ecosystem to generate competitive intelligence and tackle challenges such as sustainability, digitalisation and efficiency.
These dynamics push the sector towards something often missing: coherence and governance. It’s not about deploying technology for its own sake, but about designing it well:
- which data is shared,
- under which rules,
- with which safeguards,
- and with what real impact on destination management.
Community, alliances and the real conversation (the hallway one that matters)
Beyond “official” spaces, FITUR is—and will remain—a place where valuable things happen in quick chats, impromptu meetings and reunions that spark projects.
For us, this edition helped strengthen ties with key actors in the Canarian tech ecosystem while adding conversations with national stakeholders setting the data agenda in tourism. As Gaia-X Spain members, we joined the tourism working group during the fair, coordinated by Dolores Ordoñez, sharing views with experts such as Paqui Rubio and many familiar faces—on how to turn collaboration into operations, with clear rules and scalable models. There was also room for informal gatherings with destinations and colleagues, like the #tardeoLibelium networking, where we exchanged ideas with renowned professionals such as Antonio Jara.
One takeaway kept coming back: the Canary Islands have what it takes to lead—what’s needed now is less talk and more execution: training, coordination and sustainable, long-term projects. That’s where MNX Online aims to keep contributing—connecting capabilities, applying open and useful tech, and driving data-based models that work for destinations both large and small.
What we bring back to Fuerteventura
If we had to sum up FITUR 2025 in three ideas, they would be:
- Data-driven tourism is already here, moving towards shared infrastructures (platforms, data spaces, collaboration models).
- Sustainability needs measurement and coordination, not just declarations: without reliable data, there is no responsible management.
- Public–private collaboration works when rules are clear: identity, permissions, agreements and transparency.
At MNX Online we remain committed to making technology useful for the territory—bringing complex concepts down to concrete cases and building solutions that let destinations and organisations share data securely, interoperably and with real impact. And, as every year, we’ll be back in Madrid for FITUR 2026 to keep moving forward.
