The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has inaugurated the third edition of the Madrid City Tourism Forum, organized by the Delegate Area of Tourism. Under the motto ‘Keys to managing a global urban destination’, the mayor presented the new plans for decentralization and tourism mobility in the capital to the more than 550 attendees from the tourism sector at this forum, held today at the Meliá Castilla hotel.
Almeida highlighted the exceptional moment that the capital is experiencing as an international tourist destination: "In a global environment of uncertainty, Madrid has established itself as a benchmark of stability in the tourism sector", an achievement that is the result of the joint commitment between the administration, the private sector, and the people of Madrid.
During his speech, the mayor emphasized the results obtained in 2024, with over 16.117 billion euros in international spending and 23.3 million overnight stays, consolidating the sustainable and high-quality tourism model promoted by the City Council. "These data allow us to choose the type of tourism we want: one that falls in love with Madrid, respects our traditions, and generates wealth and well-being for all," he said, without forgetting that the City Council is focused on long-haul and long-duration tourism.
Almeida took the opportunity to outline the three main axes on which the City of Madrid is working to strengthen this model: the RESIDE Plan to control illegal tourist apartments, the new Tourism Mobility Strategy presented by the Delegate for Urban Planning, Environment, and Mobility, Borja Carabante, and the Tourism Decentralization Plan, led by the Delegate Councillor for Tourism, Almudena Maíllo, which will expand the positive impact of tourism to all neighborhoods in Madrid. "Madrid is now the second most attractive destination in the world and the first in the business sector, and our responsibility is to continue growing in quality, maintaining the balance that defines us," Almeida emphasized. To continue in this "virtuous circle," the mayor believes that "the immense talent we have, creativity in the tourism sector, and the generation of synergies" are the best recipe for Madrid to remain the reference it is today.
Madrid consolidates its high-quality tourism model in 2024
Almudena Maíllo presented a comprehensive overview of the tourism sector in Madrid in 2024 at the forum, as captured in the Madrid Tourism Yearbook 2024, a key publication that allows for a precise analysis of the evolution of the capital’s tourism model. "The best way to think about the future is to scrutinize the present," Maíllo noted, recalling that Madrid’s tourism closed a historic year with 11.2 million visitors and 23 million overnight stays, figures that reflect a strong commitment to growth in quality.
The Delegate Councillor highlighted a key figure that underscores this leap in quality: one million more overnight stays that have generated a 21% increase in international spending. "We have surpassed the objectives set in our first strategic plan, de-seasonalizing tourism and improving the sustainability of the model," Maíllo pointed out, noting that "Madrid exceeds 900,000 monthly visitors in nine of the twelve months of the year."
The success of this strategy is based on four key pillars: international tourism, high-impact tourism, meetings and congress tourism (MICE), and experiential tourism. Over the past six years, Madrid has established itself as a city that attracts high-impact travelers. Thus, the number of Virtuoso consortium travelers choosing Madrid has increased by 88% since 2019, with an average spending of 12,867 euros per person. The capital has been recognized for six consecutive years as the best destination in the world for conferences and meetings by the World Travel Awards. This business tourism has increased the average stay of international attendees to 4.5 nights with an average spending of 1,686 euros, more than twice that of domestic visitors.
Madrid has also leveraged its competitive advantage as a global capital of experiences. Its extensive cultural and sports agenda, with events like the Mutua Madrid Open, the Laureus Awards, and the upcoming arrivals of the NFL and Formula 1, have had a direct impact of 1.539 billion euros on the local economy. This is in addition to the gastronomic offer.
The consolidation of the high-quality tourism model has highlighted Madrid’s attractiveness to investors, resulting in a 30% increase in five-star hotel capacity in the last six years, making the city the most important hotel investment destination in Europe. This development translates into employment and well-being for the city: the hotel sector employs over 13,000 families, and each bed in a five-star hotel generates up to 35 jobs.
Air connectivity has been confirmed as a key lever for Madrid’s tourism model. The capital aspires to become the major hub of southern Europe, bridging between Latin America and Asia. With 14 routes to North America, 37 weekly frequencies to China, new routes to Tokyo and Doha, and close collaboration between administrations and the private sector through Madrid Turismo by IFEMA, "Madrid has managed to diversify its tourism emitting markets," Maíllo emphasized.
Madrid presents its Tourism Decentralization Plan
Maíllo detailed the Tourism Decentralization Plan, an ambitious roadmap that aims to expand and diversify the visitor experience beyond the traditional enclaves of Madrid, promoting a balanced distribution of tourist flows throughout the capital. "Madrid has room to grow without straining its model," she emphasized, "as the city has a lower tourist pressure than other global urban destinations, putting it in a strategic position."
The municipal Tourism Officer highlighted that this plan stems from a "rigorous exercise of analysis and listening, with the support of artificial intelligence tools like MadridChatGPT, which is present in 125 countries," allowing for the identification of the unique attributes of each area, a better understanding of the real motivations of visitors, and the building of a neighborhood-by-neighborhood tourism narrative, giving voice to every corner of the city.
The strategy aims to achieve three main goals: redistribute the benefits of tourism to reach more neighborhoods, consolidate Madrid as a destination enjoyed 365 days a year, and improve coexistence between Madrilenians and visitors. "In Madrid, each neighborhood is a destination to discover and experience, which is why we propose a new way of looking at the city," Maíllo stated.
The plan’s rollout includes a distinct visual identity for each tourism area, with digital campaigns, mupis, branded content, merchandising, promotional videos, and events. The launch campaign, starting next week, is presented under the slogan ‘You’re missing streets,’ a familiar and recognizable gesture inviting visitors and Madrilenians to discover the streets with history, flavor, and local life of Madrid’s neighborhoods. The first areas featured in this campaign will be Carabanchel, El Capricho, and Casa de Campo. In total, the first phase of the plan will cover 22 tourism areas, including Salamanca, Lavapiés, Usera, Madrid Río, Las Quintas, Chueca, Chamberí, or Gran Vía. Subsequently, nine more areas will be added, such as Paseo del Arte, Villaverde, Ventas, Moratalaz, San Blas, Pacífico, Prosperidad, Ciudad Universitaria, and Delicias.
Madrid’s Tourism Mobility Strategy
The Delegate for Urban Planning, Environment, and Mobility, Borja Carabante, presented the Tourism Mobility Strategy at the forum, aimed at improving services for visitors and the city’s transportation system. This ambitious set of measures, developed within the framework of the Madrid 360 Strategy, aims to offer visitors the greatest possible variety of alternatives at a high level, ensure that the initiatives applied positively impact the city’s economy, and be compatible with respect for the environment and the mobility system used by Madrilenians in their daily routines.
Regarding mobility, tourists play a significant role in Madrid, with half a million daily trips on average in the city, a figure that is higher in the fall and winter months. Barajas, Chamartín, Centro, Retiro, and Arganzuela are the districts with the highest volume of trips. The majority of tourists (78%) arrive in the city by plane, compared to 18% by train and 4% by road. Their preferred modes of transport to their accommodation are the Metro and taxi (32% each), followed by VTCs (15%), private vehicles (6%), urban buses (4%), discretionary buses (4%), Cercanías trains (1%), and intercity buses (1%). Five percent walk to their accommodation. Once settled in the capital, 40% of trips are made on foot, 29% by Metro, and 8% by EMT Madrid urban bus. The remaining trips are completed by taxi (7%), VTCs (4%), private vehicles (4%), tourist buses (2%), Cercanías trains (2%), and discretionary buses (2%).
One of the main novelties is the new regulation of tourist bus services, which will limit routes that saturate the main city streets, incorporating strict environmental criteria. The new routes ‘Historic Madrid’, ‘Modern Madrid Bernabéu’, and ‘Modern Madrid Ventas’ will replace the current ones, and only vehicles with zero emissions or ECO category will be allowed to operate. Additionally, companies will be required to report on the number of passengers transported and the time slots and routes completed.
The strategy also includes the creation of new pedestrian tourist routes under the ‘Walk Madrid’ initiative, with six itineraries connected to the main tourist spots and green areas of the city, accessible via QR codes, the municipal website, and tourism offices. Existing routes, such as the Light Landscape, Castellana, or Chinatown-Usera, will also be reinforced.
Other highlighted measures include optimizing taxi and VTC services in high-demand tourist areas; reforming tourist and discretionary bus stops; intensively controlling the improper parking of ‘tuk-tuk’ vehicles; a new regulation of hotel stops; a request to Adif to design a plan for new taxi parking lots at Atocha and Chamartín stations; and an improvement in tourist communication and signage to move sustainably around Madrid. The strategy also includes a new information plan on the effects of major events on the city’s mobility, aiming to minimize their impact and improve visitor travel planning.
Challenges of urban destinations, tourism trends, and sustainability
The third edition of the Madrid City Tourism Forum brought together key figures in the sector to reflect on the main challenges facing the capital in its consolidation as a global urban destination. In two roundtable discussions, the forum focuses on key aspects such as air connectivity, hotel offerings, brand identity, and the role of culture in the city’s international projection.
The first panel, titled ‘Madrid and the challenges of tourism,’ featured the CEO of IBERIA, Marco Sansavini, and the president of Sancus Capital and owner of Hotel Villa Magna, Borja Escalada. Moderated by the director of Business Insider Spain, Yovanna Blanco, both speakers analyzed how to promote quality tourism that enhances Madrid’s competitiveness through improved air connectivity, sustainability, and excellence in tourism offerings.
The following panel, ‘Cultural brands, identity, and destinations,’ will address the role of cultural relevance in the strategic positioning of urban destinations. Participating in this dialogue are the vice president of IFEMA, Daniel Martínez; the president of the Digital Transformation Advisory Board of the Community of Madrid, Juan Pedro Moreno, and the General Manager Iberia of LOEWE, Pablo Pastor, moderated by the president of the Tourism Council of CEOE, Juan Cierco. The experts will discuss the need to build a distinctive identity that combines culture, creativity, and local values to reinforce Madrid’s international projection.
The program also includes two blocks of short presentations under the format ‘Trends in Ten: keys that will shape urban tourism,’ where prominent professionals will address the main transformations shaping the future of the sector.
The Head of Data & AI at Accenture, Eva García San Luis, will focus on the impact of artificial intelligence on tourism experiences, while the VP Public Sector CoE & Global Tourism Segment Lead at MasterCard, Quim Martínez Bosch, will reflect on the new needs and motivations of the modern traveler. Subsequently, the CEO of SPSG Consulting, Carlos Cantó, will address the main trends in sportainment, while the CMO of Movistar Plus+, Purificación González, will delve into the rise of screen tourism.
Furthermore, to raise awareness of the importance of creating a positive and lasting legacy with MICE tourism in Madrid, the forum will feature interventions from the Director of Communication, CSR, and IR of Envera, Virginia Ródenas, and the Managing Director of Red Cross and Blood Donation Madrid, Trinidad Rodríguez Martín, who will highlight the opportunities to integrate sustainability into their events in Madrid. During the forum, attendees have been able to make blood donations at a space set up by the Red Cross.
The Madrid City Tourism Forum will conclude with a presentation by the co-founder and CEO of TOTEM Branding, Andy Stalman, who will advocate for the importance of building a coherent and distinctive brand that connects with the emotions of visitors and reinforces Madrid’s identity as an open and authentic city. /
