In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Gilberto Salcedo, Vice President of Tourism at ProColombia.
What are the expectations and objectives of those participating in this major event?
The first thing to say is that Colombia is coming this time with a delegation of 30 businessmen. Last year we were there with 20. Of course, this event is becoming a very important place and platform for the whole world, where we clearly come with a renewed offer, mainly in the Leisure sector, which is where we are focused on this particular fair. However, many of the DMCs also cover the topic of events.
We have news. In March of last year we are coming with the Magdalena River cruise operated by AmaWaterways . Operations begin on March 15, already confirmed by the company. We also have an offer that includes the 6 tourist regions of the country, where the signals we are receiving are that we are on the right track. We closed 2023 with more than 6,000,000 visitors arriving in the country, with a growth of 29% compared to 2022, which was not only a year of full recovery, but of growth in the face of the pandemic.
This year, we are growing in visitors in the January-August period, which is the last we have reported in figures, by 9%. And in foreign currency by 15% compared to the previous year, which was also historic, with more than 9 billion dollars entering Colombia from tourism last year. This 2024 we are already close to 4.7 billion for the first half of the year.
Does this indicate growth in terms of what tourism in Colombia produces within the Colombian GDP, right?
We are on that path of growth, sometimes moving a percentage point of GDP is not so simple. However, it is still a sector that generates a lot of foreign currency for the country. It is the first non-mining energy sector that generates foreign currency today in Colombia, and in terms of employment we are also close to the 8,000 jobs that the tourism industry produces. Then, it is a strategic sector in growth, and additionally it is facilitating the country's energy transition, but also its economy.
We are very happy and absolutely satisfied to see how tourism in Colombia is not only growing, but also contributing to communities, destinations and evidently, becoming a fundamental basis for the transition that Colombia seeks through “The Country of Beauty.”
There are a lot of airline officials here. How do you think the country's connectivity will be impacted next year?
We are aiming for some very interesting air capacity figures, growing almost 11% in frequencies this year, and around 7% in seats. We will also launch 18 new air routes this year, of which 13 have already been inaugurated with the presence of some new operators such as Emirates, which began operations in June with a Dubai-Miami, Miami-Bogotá flight. In addition, Edelweiss will take up regular operations in this second part of the year on a Zurich-Bogotá, Bogotá-Cartagena-Zurich flight, connecting a new market for Colombia. And another airline is also with Argentina, where we are through Gol connecting the Bogotá-Buenos Aires route and they are also adding to the connectivity we had Bogotá-Sao Paulo.