01    The origin

Born in Madrid.
Built for every destination.

FORWARD_ was founded in Madrid in 2019 with a simple but radical idea: the high-impact traveler is underserved. Not for lack of information — but for lack of editorial judgment. Anyone can list restaurants. We curate the ones that define a moment.

What began as a digital agenda became a methodology. We built category structures, editorial criteria, curation processes and a community that trusts our selection. Year after year, THE CLUB Madrid became the reference for those who experience the city at the highest level.

“We didn’t just observe the sector. We started to define it.”

In parallel, we built FORWARD_MAD — an annual summit that brought together C-level leaders from hospitality, gastronomy, culture and luxury travel. Six editions. Over fifty speakers. One conviction: that the conversation about luxury travel needed to happen at a different level.

We also published. Three research reports on the luxury traveler — the high-spending German traveler, the persona, the experience — that are now cited by DMOs, hotel groups and tourism ministries across Europe.

Key milestones

Seven years,
one direction.

2019

FORWARD_ is born

After an exhaustive process of research, market analysis and international benchmarking that confirmed both the opportunity and the absence of a comparable project, FORWARD_ is registered as a brand. An idea becomes a project.

2020

FORWARD_Live: the first gathering

The pandemic cut short the plans for the first in-person event. Far from stopping the project, FORWARD_ pivoted to an online format that would prove more powerful than expected: a gathering of professionals from around the world to share knowledge at one of the most uncertain moments the tourism industry has ever faced.

2021

FORWARD_MAD: first in-person edition

The first report is published as the result of a professional think tank. In October, the first event and the first famtrip take place, with the most important luxury travel agencies from the main source markets.

2022

The take-off

The second edition confirms what the project had always sensed: when the right players sit at the same table, magic happens. Madrid begins to function as a coordinated ecosystem. More operators, more collaboration, more product. The destination begins to speak the language of luxury.

2023

Knowledge as a competitive advantage

The third edition takes a decisive step: the first comprehensive analysis of the international luxury traveler is published, distributed to the entire local value chain. For the first time, operators can design their strategies on a solid foundation — not intuitions, but real, up-to-date data on who the luxury client is, what they seek and how they behave.

2024

The acquisition: the next level

Five years after its creation, FORWARD_ had proved its hypothesis. With the Madrid proof of concept consolidated, Andersen Consulting Spain and FORWARD_ reach an agreement to take the project to a new dimension. More destinations, more resources, more knowledge. The most ambitious chapter of FORWARD_ has just begun.

2025

Consolidation and new horizons

Without an event on the calendar, 2025 was the year of building in silence. Madrid, with its already mature ecosystem, launched its own product club and began operating autonomously — the best indicator that the project had fulfilled its mission in the destination. Meanwhile, FORWARD_ took the first steps towards new destinations. A year of transition, strategy and foundations.

2026

The Luxury Barometer: listen before speaking

FORWARD_ and Andersen Consulting Spain, together with LLYC, Dynata and Luxury Spain, publish the first Luxury Barometer: a comprehensive analysis of the sector from the demand perspective. At a time of high volatility and accelerated behavioural shifts, understanding the client is not an advantage. It is a necessity.

“Beyond the conference.
We built the segment.
FORWARD_ · Madrid · 2019 – 2026