Department of Atlántico in Colombia: Barranquilla and many other destinations to visit

Jaime Alfaro de Castro, Undersecretary of Tourism of the Government of Atlántico in Colombia, representing the city of Barranquilla.

What is the importance of Barranquilla within Colombia?

It is important to first understand that Colombia is a country that is administratively divided into departments, municipalities and of course districts. The department of Atlántico includes 23 municipalities, among which is the capital city, Barranquilla. Based on this, Barranquilla becomes the fourth most important city in Colombia due to its population and development.

How many inhabitants does the city have?

In the capital city of Barranquilla we are approaching 1,400,000 in population. And with the other municipalities we are already approaching 2,500,000. So, the metropolitan area is growing and so is absolutely everything.

What is the tourist offer in both the MICE and Leisure areas?

MICE tourism is the type of tourism that has been developing naturally in the capital city of Barranquilla, given its high corporate content. These same corporations and companies have been holding conferences and other events that have generated an interesting strength around all the services that have to do with MICE. 

In 2016, the Puerta de Oro Events and Convention Centre was opened. This is our exhibition centre, which has a capacity of up to 16,000 people and the ability to host trade fairs or congresses. In addition, we have 10 more convention centres with capacities of less than 1,000 people, which provides interesting options for any type of client. 

What hotel capacity does the city have?

Currently in Barranquilla we have around 200 hotels that give us a capacity of 16,000 beds. There are hotels that have been open for less than 15 years on average, and others that are already classics like Hotel El Prado, because they are already cultural heritage, which was the first resort-type hotel in Latin America. And that is part of the appeal of Barranquilla del Atlántico. 

They know us as the Golden Gate of Colombia, and they give us that name because in Puerto Colombia, a municipality that is 15 minutes from Barranquilla, we had the longest dock in America in 1888. It was at that time that the whole wave of immigrants began to arrive, and all the development was done through the port of Puerto Colombia in Barranquilla.

The first Avianca flight at that time was in Barranquilla, just as the first telephone company was founded in the city. Many of the first moments in the history of economic development took place in Barranquilla, and then they spread further into the country. But that name has allowed us to enjoy permanent development, a completely globalized vision for a long time, and also to be cosmopolitan.

In what sense is Barranquilla a cosmopolitan city?

We see Jews, Muslims, Catholics and Christians living together in the same place, sitting at the same table, sharing, because from the beginning our population was cosmopolitan. Food has been a bridge to that fusion. If I have to talk about a typical dish from Barranquilla, I can easily say Arabic food and I'm not wrong. Chinese food is very good, rice, fish and patacón too. So all these cultures began to enter, they mixed in some way with the local population and people began to eat in a very delicious way.

On the other hand, all this development allowed us to have the first planned neighborhood in Latin America, Barrio Prado, where the Hotel El Prado is located. And that allowed us to be pioneers in development and in key moments of the country's history. We have Cartagena and Santa Marta next door. Santa Marta is the oldest city in Colombia and Cartagena is the second. Both were founded in some way by the Spanish, so we are a city of immigrants from the very beginning.

What are the main attractions of the Department of Atlántico?

The Department of Atlántico is small in area, it is the fourth in the country, with approximately 3,300 kilometers, but it has almost 90 kilometers of beaches on the Caribbean Sea, of which 21 have a tourist vocation, with services, gastronomy and new infrastructure that is being built. Beaches such as Country, Sabanilla, Miramar or Salinas del Rey are beaches that are already being intervened with infrastructure works. 

In the center of the department we are talking about five municipalities: Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Tubará, Juan de Acosta and Piojó, all five have a beach coastline. Then there is the central zone, which has a much more cultural offering focused on crafts, gastronomy and nature. There is also the eastern zone, where we have municipalities with a slope on the Magdalena River, which allows us to have a very rich gastronomy of river food and which have some different attractions. That means that out of the 23 municipalities, we have 12 with a tourist vocation, 8 with nature reserves, 14 bird watching points and more than 28 gastronomic festivals.

Plus, they have a lot of entertainment and events, right?

Exactly. When we talk about Barranquilla and the Atlantic, we think of the Carnival of Barranquilla, the second most important in the world after Rio de Janeiro. Rio is a carnival that is much more fantasy-based, ours is one of tradition. There are four days in which there are parades with all the cultural and musical expressions that practically our country contains. There are more than 1,100 musical rhythms and more than 50 different dances influenced by each municipality that is grouped in Barranquilla as the main city. Our route 40 becomes the Cumbiódromo, with almost 7 kilometers where some of these parades take place. However, the carnival has a slogan called “Parties for everyone” and it is precisely because in those days the city is completely integrated and there are more than eight operators doing parades, parties, etc. In addition, it is an intangible heritage of humanity declared by UNESCO. 

In Barranquilla, we are also the home of the Colombian national team, that is, of all the qualifying matches of the Colombian national team in soccer. We have a 5-kilometer boardwalk overlooking the Magdalena River. This is the one with the greatest flow in Colombia, the longest, and it meets the Caribbean Sea in Bocas de Ceniza, in Barranquilla. 

A train that exists in the Las Flores neighborhood, which borders that point of Boca de Ceniza, is being restored, and the only urban beach we have in Barranquilla is being restored. With that, we add a whole strategy that allows us to talk about water sports.

On the other hand, we have the Marina in Puerto Bolero, a truly complete destination. And we also have the important advantage of being between two cities that allows us to think about regional tourism. So, if I want to travel from the US, I can visit more than one destination in the Caribbean region, where you can enjoy completely different types of cities. Cartagena is the only colonial city we have in South America right now. Barranquilla is an hour away by car, with normal traffic. Then, an hour and a half away is Santa Marta, a city rich in beaches, nature and living indigenous cultures. 

Without a doubt, the Atlantic and Barranquilla are very special places that people have to know, especially for their current development and all the offer we have for visitors.