FITURNEXT 2027 will focus on a question becoming increasingly important for destinations facing rapid tourism growth: how can tourism help preserve and promote cultural identity rather than weaken it?
FITUR, the International Tourism Trade Fair organised by IFEMA MADRID, has announced the eighth edition of its FITURNEXT Sustainability Observatory, an initiative dedicated to encouraging sustainable and regenerative approaches to tourism. The observatory’s 2027 Challenge will examine how tourism can contribute to the preservation and promotion of cultural identity, with a particular focus on initiatives that can balance tourism activity with the protection of local heritage and community identity.
Applications are open to companies, public administrations, organisations and projects working in this area. Initiatives can be submitted until 31 August through the official FITURNEXT application process. Selected projects will be assessed using FITURNEXT’s replicability and impact methodology, with the recognised initiatives to be announced during FITUR 2027, which will take place from January 20 to 24, 2027, in Madrid.
The challenge comes as destinations continue to look for ways to manage tourism without allowing local culture to become reduced to something designed primarily for visitors. Cultural identity can include a community’s history, traditions, crafts, relationship with its territory and the way people understand and represent their own home. FITURNEXT argues that these elements should not be treated simply as products for tourist consumption, but as part of the social and economic foundations of a destination.
That approach also raises questions about who controls the way a place is presented to visitors. When local communities have a meaningful role in deciding how their heritage is interpreted and used in tourism, the benefits of tourism can extend beyond visitor spending. Community participation can influence how cultural assets are protected, how stories are told and how tourism income remains within the destination.
The FITURNEXT 2027 Challenge is also linked to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These include SDG 11, particularly Target 11.4 on protecting cultural and natural heritage, as well as SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, Target 8.9 on sustainable tourism and local economic development, and SDG 10 on reducing inequalities.
FITURNEXT has identified three broad areas for initiatives entering the challenge. The first is the revitalisation and regeneration of heritage. Projects in this category are expected to demonstrate how heritage can remain a living part of a community rather than becoming something preserved only for display. The emphasis is on approaches that help people understand and protect cultural heritage while creating a meaningful relationship with tourism.
The second category focuses on community-led identity tourism. Here, the emphasis is on governance and ownership. FITURNEXT is looking for initiatives where communities have a substantive role in shaping tourism activity, rather than simply being involved as participants in projects designed by others.
The third category covers the creation of tourism products based on cultural identity. These initiatives are expected to present local culture through genuine experiences while addressing the risk of cultural appropriation. The aim is to strengthen local narratives and ensure that tourism products connected to heritage reflect the communities and places from which they originate.
For destinations, this distinction is significant. Cultural tourism can generate income and create opportunities for local businesses, but the way culture is presented to visitors can also influence how that culture is understood and valued. FITURNEXT’s challenge therefore places emphasis not only on attracting visitors, but on models that can be sustained by the communities whose identity forms part of the tourism experience.
The initiative is also designed to look beyond individual destinations. FITURNEXT says it wants to identify projects that can be replicated and adapted elsewhere, allowing successful approaches to provide practical examples for other destinations and tourism organisations facing similar challenges.
Winning and finalist projects will take part in activities at the FITUR 2027 stand from January 20 to 24. They will also become part of the wider FITURNEXT community, gaining visibility through media coverage and opportunities for collaboration and exchange with other participants.
With cultural identity at the centre of its 2027 challenge, FITURNEXT is placing the relationship between tourism and local communities under closer examination. The projects selected through the initiative will offer examples of how destinations can approach tourism growth while giving greater attention to the people, heritage and cultural narratives that make those destinations distinct.
