For the second week of April, hundreds of Colombians plan their trips in the context of Holy Week. Taking into account this holiday situation, it is exposed what are the favorite places for Colombians to travel. It also details how some airlines have started offering benefits and promotions that aim to make travelers' short vacations easier.
Outside the country, Colombians' favorite places are: New York, United States; Miami, United States; Cancun, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Mexico City, Mexico. “This is where Mexico City stands out as a destination because, although during Easter Week last year it was already open to receive tourists, by 2022 interest increased by 117%”, commented Inés Hochstadter, Country Manager of Despegar Colombia.
As for domestic destinations, Colombians are looking to go to Bogotá; Medellin; Cartagena De Indias; Cali and Santa Marta. On the other hand, tourists who come to Colombia come from Chile; Mexico; Peru; Argentina and the United States.
Latam, one of the air travel companies that is providing beneficial information to its customers, offers a double accumulation of miles. Wingo, for its part, is offering five destinations in particular with cheaper costs.
According to figures from the Superintendency of Transport, during Easter 2021, 1,886,370 passengers were transported through the 49 terminals in 282,826 buses. On the other hand, the Civil Aeronautics reported the movement of 683,314 passengers who traveled from the country's main airports. Aerocivil explained that between Friday, March 26 and Thursday, April 1, a total of 488,819 passengers were mobilized, 389,070 on domestic flights and 99,749 on international flights.
“We are here to boost the market, generate jobs, democratize commercial air transport and add value to the tourism chain,” William Shaw, CEO of Ultra Air airline.
Given the expectation of similar figures, even higher, taking into account the reduction of measures imposed due to the arrival of coronavirus for the first half of 2020, Latam is pushing a strategy of strengthening within the Colombian market with the announcement of the accumulation of miles for every dollar spent on purchases made with LATAM Pass VISA credit cards from Banco de Bogotá or Banco de Occidente. This will be available until May 15 for those who meet the requirements.
According to Procolombia, 93.3% of the chairs and 90.4% of the international frequencies registered as of February 2020, have already recovered. The airlines that have the most discounted fares for travel during the Easter season are Viva Air and Latam. Viva Air, for its part, offers flights from $180,000 to Cartagena and Latam, from $175,000. To go to Cancun, for example, Avianca costs from $679,000 and $689,000.
Those who hold the LATAM Pass VISA card from both banks will be able to continue to enjoy the benefits offered by the cards at the time of travel that include up to 30% discount on ticket purchases in Laram, recalls the company. There is also an option to access an additional suitcase weighing up to 23 kilos at no extra cost. Access to priority baggage and upgrade vouchers are granted, allowing access to more than 1,000 lounges worldwide.
Wingo, as previously mentioned, offers five low-priced destinations: Santo Domingo, Punta Cana, Cancun, Mexico City and Curaçao.
“30% of Wingo's international seats are for sale for a value equal to or less than $150 USD each way, and in the case of domestic flights 20% of the available seats are for a value equal to or less than $100,000 COP per trip. Being able to offer low prices in high season is a priority for Wingo while prioritizing the pocket of Colombians with quality experiences (...) During Easter we expect to mobilize a total of 70,000 passengers, which would represent an increase of 42% compared to 2021,” said Wingo's CEO Jorge Jiménez.
Avianca, for its part, announced several new routes: Medellin-Mexico City, Cartagena-New York, Cartagena-Costa Rica, Medellin-Costa Rica, Medellin-Riohacha, Medellin-Bucaramanga and Bogotá-Ipiales. Ultra Air, in the same way, offers other new destinations: Pereira, San Andrés and Santa Marta.
In this regard, Monsignor Luis José Rueda, archbishop of Bogotá and president of the Colombian Episcopal Conference, mentioned the presence of religious fanatics in the precincts, reminding that biosecurity measures must be respected.
“I believe that the Holy Week of 2022, which is already approaching and for which we are preparing on this Lenten journey, will be like that of return. The one about the return to the temples with all the care and protocols, because we are no longer going to do as before. We have to take certain measures of distancing, of care,” said the prelate from Pereira, where he leads a missionary meeting.
As he expressed the joy of resuming a Holy Week with 100% face-to-face participation of his fervent religious, he recalled that there is a virus that changed the behavior of humanity and for this reason the necessary precautions must be taken.
Likewise, Monsignor Luis José Rueda, expressed his concern about the alleged outbreaks of the virus that are taking place in Asia and Europe, since when this type of situation occurs in America they usually pass the type of domino effect three or four weeks later.
Monsignor stressed that care must be strengthened with this virus, which especially attacks those over 60 years of age, and also indicated that he is expecting outbreaks on both continents to cease and Easter can be celebrated normally in the national territory.
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