This will be the fourth time that the Royal Spanish Winter Sports Federation has welcomed the FIS bi-annual gathering, this time to a city which has a reputation as a top sporting metropolis.

About 1’100 persons will participate at the 49th edition of the FIS Congress which is of great significance for the future of our sport, focusing on the development of the FIS disciplines and steering the direction of the International Ski Federation with all its many facets, to achieve success in a modern and innovative form now and in the future.

Even if approximately 100 official meetings of the Council and the FIS Committees are included within the actual programme, we hope that all participants will have an opportunity to spend some relaxing moments with their friends in the FIS family, alongside their intensive working schedule.

We wish everybody a successful 49th International Ski Congress and we hope that the decisions to be taken in Barcelona will contribute to successfully developing FIS and its disciplines.

Gian Franco Kasper
FIS President