At Infecar we end 2021 with the satisfaction of having resumed a certain degree of normality in our trade fair and congress activity. The scenario we faced in 2020 with the covid-19 crisis led us to adapt to a digital environment, which we have maintained in 2021, consolidating our virtual presence in a perfect combination with our face-to-face presence.

In this sense, we have maintained the implementation of virtual connection spaces that allow us to bring our annual calendar closer to people who cannot come to our venue in person. This, together with the combination of hybrid spaces and the streaming of the fairs’ informative programmes, has meant that our activity has a range of options adapted to all audiences.

Thus, in this year 2021, Infecar has held fourteen events, including face-to-face, hybrid and virtual events, in which we have welcomed 214 exhibitors and had more than 25,200 face-to-face visitors and 26,159 virtual visitors.

In a review of the activity, it is worth mentioning that in January and March, Infecar held two webinars as part of Infecar Conecta. In the first of these, Canary Islands companies that have successfully internationalised gave us the keys to their achievements, with the participation of 236 participants.

In the second, four women entrepreneurs talked to us about their experience in the technology sector, coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Day, and passed on their knowledge and experience to the 263 participants.

In March, the sixth edition of ExpoBienestar Canarias took place, winning over 586 virtual attendees with a carefully planned programme that emphasised the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace, analysing the changes in trends and leadership that this new reality has brought and the challenges facing education.

In April, more than 650 people participated in the innovative hybrid edition of Atlantur, which featured conferences followed regionally, nationally and internationally from countries such as the United States, Poland, Sweden, Kenya, Colombia and Belgium.

Atlantur, which had 31 exhibitors, concluded with the firm conviction that in order to reactivate the economy and the island’s tourism sector, the hotel and non-hotel offer must continue to reinvent itself to adapt to the new demands of customers.

In May the Canary Islands Trade Fair Institution was transformed for three days into the larder of Gran Canaria with the 8th edition of the Gran Canaria Me Gusta Fair. A total of 51 stands with the best local products, children’s workshops, gastronomic exhibitions and training workshops delighted 3,383 visitors.

In the same month, the best of the island’s livestock participated in the first virtual edition of the 28th Gran Canaria Select Livestock Competition, held as part of the Livestock Fair, which was followed by more than 800 people. In addition, on 29 and 30 May, 23,000 virtual attendees celebrated the Day of the Canary Islands with Canariona, a musical programme featuring 27 local artists and recorded in 13 emblematic locations in Gran Canaria.

In June, 12,774 people visited Infecar to discover the 59 stands of the 21st edition of FISALDO and enjoyed raffles, fashion shows and hairdressing and make-up workshops, which could also be followed virtually. The Fair of Opportunities was back after a year’s hiatus in order to contribute to the reactivation of small and medium-sized businesses in Gran Canaria.

In July the nautical and marine-maritime sector of the Canary Islands met again at the 10th anniversary of FIMAR, the International Maritime Fair, which brought together 2,740 visitors who were able to see the latest trends and developments in the sector from 25 exhibitors.

In September, the ninth edition of Canarias Comunica, the Canary Islands Communication Forum, took place, which in a renewed format provided attendees with a more complete experience, with both a theoretical and practical part, bringing together 191 attendees, who congregated in the exhibition centre.

The Canary Islands Electric Vehicle Show, Movelec, opened its doors in October with a total of 2,003 visitors and 882 virtual visitors, who were able to check out the performance of the latest electric vehicle models, as well as learn first-hand about trends in the electric mobility sector. In addition, this event broke the record for the number of participants to date with 29 exhibitor stands.

The penultimate month of the year, November, brought a new edition of Animundo, the Pet Trade Fair, which, on its return to being held in person, attracted 3,832 visitors and 19 exhibitor stands. But not only that, one of the main attractions of this fair, its adoption catwalk, managed to find a second chance for 27 dogs from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria’s Island Animal Shelter.

To end 2021, in December we held a new edition of Infecar Conecta, this time focusing on ‘The power of communication in the face of climate emergency’, which was attended by more than 52 participants. Finally, the Gran Canaria Blue Economy Forum, which in its third edition was dedicated to ‘Digitalisation in port environments’, was held with 161 attendees.

Activities at the Conference Centre

The work carried out by the entire Infecar team to identify the most appropriate strategies for the development of events during the pandemic and its ability to adapt to the new needs of companies and institutions allowed Infecar’s Gran Canaria Conference Centre to maintain the trust of its clients in 2021, hosting a total of 81 events with the participation of more than 20,000 attendees.

Some of the most important events were the presentation of the new Canary Islands Tourism strategy broadcast via streaming; the 2nd Carnival Conference, organised by the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council to set the direction for the capital city’s most international festival in the coming years; the 12-concert music series Gran Canaria Suena, which transformed Infecar into an open-air auditorium; and the global meeting on artificial intelligence, DeepLearn 2021 Summer.

Other highlights included the launch of the Gran Canaria Observatory for Universal Accessibility, a consultative body for social participation to guarantee the social inclusion of people with disabilities; the BrowArt congress on advanced aesthetics; the international event Fiware Camp Gran Canaria 2021, which disseminated the latest trends and technological developments in Fiware; the presentation of the Gran Canaria Wine Route, the first certified route in the Canary Islands; the training conference ‘Finding opportunity in the midst of difficulty’ by the prestigious and renowned doctor Mario Alonso Puig; the debate of the Gran Canaria Convention Bureau on the suitability of ‘Gran Canaria as a venue for sustainable events’ or the Recognition of traditional craftsmanship by the Cabildo of Gran Canaria to women who have contributed to keeping the island’s traditions alive.

The aroma of cheese and wine from our island flooded the Sala Bandama, renovated in March this year to offer virtual events in an adapted digital environment, during the celebration of the Official Gran Canaria Cheese Competition, which took place within the framework of the Gran Canaria Me Gusta Fair, and the Gran Canaria Island Wine Tasting, with the participation of 17 wineries and a total of 42 wines in the different categories.

The Sala Canarias witnessed the excitement of hundreds of students on a very special day, the day of their graduation, bringing to the stage the students of Social Work, Physiotherapy and Special Training Programmes of the ULPGC, the IES Los Tarahales and the Heidelberg, Colegio Norte and Anita Conrad schools.

We have also been the set for the filming of Eobuwie and the recordings of the programmes Trópico Distopico and Acción Acredita, and we have hosted the Assembly of Las Palmas Bus, the Internal Meeting of Cajasiete, the Salcai Utinsa Board and the Conference of the María Domínguez Feminist School of the Socialist Youth of Spain.

In the final part of 2021, we were also the chosen venue for the celebration of a new edition of Overbooking Gran Canaria on its return to face-to-face attendance; we hosted a new MacClima conference; the 45th edition of the European Conference of Support and Solidarity with the Saharawi People or the 2nd Conference on the Evaluation of the Strategic Plan for Industrial Areas of Gran Canaria, among others.

With all this, at the Canary Islands Trade Fair Institution we are working with great enthusiasm on the trade fair and congress scenario that we have in mind for 2022, with a wide and varied calendar of fairs and events that we hope will allow us to meet more visitors, exhibitors and professionals, but also with the organisational challenge of managing our spaces to host events of all kinds that will allow us to continue to boost the local economy.

To all those who have made our activity possible in 2021, thank you!