From data to decisions: How Medellín turns tourism intelligence into a competitive advantage

In contemporary tourism, data has become a new form of infrastructure. Beyond airports and hotels, cities that learn to measure, analyze, and act on their data are able to make better and more sustainable decisions.

Medellín understood this early on. Today, its Tourism Intelligence System (TIS) is one of Colombia's most robust tools for understanding tourism behavior, anticipating trends, and strengthening its position as a destination for meetings, knowledge, and authentic experiences.

Developed by the Secretariat of Tourism and Entertainment of the Medellín District, with support from the Greater Medellín Convention & Visitors Bureau and other partners, the SIT centralizes data on connectivity, hotel capacity, visitor profiles, and economic impact, generating evidence to guide public and private decisions.

Medellín in figures: a destination that understands itself

The SIT reveals a city with a consolidated infrastructure and sustained growth. Medellín has more than 190 venues, both traditional and non-traditional—theaters, museums, universities, and convention centers—with capacity for more than 60,000 simultaneous attendees.

The accommodation offering includes 591 hotels and 8,755 tourist accommodations, totaling more than 70,000 beds in the metropolitan area. Regarding connectivity, José María Córdova Airport offers 33 international routes to 21 destinations in 13 countries, in addition to 64 domestic routes connecting to 28 Colombian cities.

According to the SIT report published in September 2025, Medellín recorded a hotel occupancy rate of 72.2% and a 12.5% ​​increase in international arrivals compared to the same period in 2024. Tourism and entertainment activity generated more than 58 billion pesos, reflecting an expanding ecosystem supported by real data.

Beyond the numbers, the value lies in how they are used: each metric informs policies, programs, and strategic decisions that improve the visitor and resident experience.

From data to action: a city strategy

The SIT is not just an information repository, but a collaborative ecosystem between institutions, universities, businesses, and citizens. Thanks to this network, Medellín can identify in real time which segments are growing the fastest, which events generate the greatest impact, and which areas concentrate the demand for accommodation.

This intelligence enables concrete decisions: strengthening promotion in markets with direct flights, designing stronger bids in strategic sectors—such as healthcare, technology, or sustainability—and measuring the social and economic legacy of each event.

ICCA Coopetition 2025: international recognition

This collaborative vision led Medellín to be nominated for the ICCA Business Intelligence Coopetition 2025 program, which recognizes destinations that use cooperation and data intelligence to boost their global competitiveness.

The concept of coopetition—competing by collaborating—encapsulates the philosophy that Medellín has applied for years: transforming information into shared knowledge. The Medellín Bureau has demonstrated that cooperating around data strengthens the entire tourism ecosystem, generating collective learning and more effective strategies.

Medellín, a destination that measures, learns and leads

The tourism of the future will be defined by destinations' ability to interpret their data, anticipate change, and act purposefully. Medellín isn't waiting: its commitment to tourism intelligence has made it a Latin American benchmark for innovation and evidence-based management.

In this city, data isn't stored: it's shared, interpreted, and transformed into decisions that improve urban life and the tourist experience. That's why Medellín not only attracts visitors: it inspires other destinations to build their futures intelligently.