Thanks to the economic recovery in Colombia, the visit of foreigners increased by 174.1%

They were months of eternal uncertainty for Colombians since the first case of coronavirus infection was announced in the country, in March 2020. Although the community is not fully recovering from the strong consequences that the pandemic left in its wake, the picture has stopped being so dark since the first openings and reactivations of activities were announced that, due to the disease, had to be canceled. According to the Ministry of Culture, 100% of the jobs in the entertainment sectors that had been lost to the pandemic, that is, more than 60,000 jobs, have already been recovered.

With the encouraging figure, this government portfolio stands out, a total of 522,117 people were employed within the so-called orange economy. By the end of 2021, the organization says, and by the first quarter of 2022, financial incentives were delivered to artists, collectives and groups that, with it, managed to strengthen their projects. The revival of culture and entertainment, among other things, activated important areas of the sector, such as the hotel industry. According to the Ministry of Tourism, the accommodation occupancy rate, for January of this year, was 50%.

Bogota, for example, received the highest number of non-resident foreigners with 38.2% of the total, followed by Medellin and Cartagena. In total, in the country, the number of visits by foreigners increased by 174.1 per cent. “The country has everything a foreigner is looking for, you arrive in the capital and Bogotá becomes a scene of culture, music, museums, historical and artistic tours. You move to other cities and you already have the sea, the warm weather. It's a country that has it all,” explained Gustavo Lovera, general manager of W Bogotá.

In 2021, according to the Banco de La República, USD $3,102 million came into the country for foreign exchange in tourism, which corresponded to a reactivation of 46%, compared to what happened in 2019.

It should be borne in mind that, for that year, events such as Estéreo Picnic have been held, whose realization in Bogotá brought with them massive visits. At the moment, in addition, the Book Fair is in progress in the capital of the country.

According to figures from the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Anato), for example, for Easter, a positive balance was achieved in terms of tourist mobility. The Civil Aeronáutica highlighted that, so far this year until those holidays, 1,078,136 passengers were mobilized on domestic flights, which for Anato is a 40% increase. On the other hand, the mobilization on international flights was 441,838, that is, there was a growth of 3%.

“Tourism continues to move steadily towards its normality, thus proving to be one of the pillars for the country's economic recovery. We are convinced that 2022 will be a year of significant figures for the travel industry. Therefore, we will continue to work on training and marketing events that strengthen the skills of Travel Agents and their offer,” explained Paula Cortés Calle, executive president of Anato.

“The joint work with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, and other actors in the sector has been key to ensuring economic recovery, so we hope that this trend will continue for the next holiday seasons,” added the leader.

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