The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Luis Carlos Reyes; Yannai Kadamani, Minister of Culture; Carlos Fernando Galán, Mayor of Bogotá; Carlos Pinedo, Mayor of Santa Marta; Carmen Caballero, President of ProColombia; and Marcelo Freixo, President of Embratur.
During the meeting, Mayor Galán highlighted the work being done in the Colombian capital, as a vibrant city that is moving towards the future, helping to lead the country with real actions that will regain people's trust. "The private sector is a fundamental ally to materialize the commitment to continue growing. Bogotá has become an important stage for gastronomic offerings for the performing arts, in the city with the airport with the largest number of passengers in Latin America. We are finally building the first metro line and we are close to reaching 50% of this work. We are going to solve the problems we have and we are going to do it hand in hand with the tourism stakeholders," Galán assured.
For his part, Carlos Pinedo, Mayor of Santa Marta, a national destination guest of honor, highlighted the Vitrina as the stage that makes the Pearl of America shine: "It is here where we reaffirm that tourism is a fundamental pillar for our city. Today, Santa Marta is the city where every corner tells a story and where every sunrise tells the greatness of this land. Here Colombia was born as a Republic. What better way to prepare for the celebration of our 500 years than by working together to promote our tourism. To the Travel Agencies, I want to say that Santa Marta is ready to strengthen our commercial alliances to grow."
Likewise, the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, pointed out the importance of the joint work between Brazil and Colombia: "Tourism, unlike oil, is more committed to democracy, social responsibility and is a model of development that is responsible for the environment. There are many possibilities for working together with Colombia, in terms of promoting both countries and that is what we want. We want to be able to unite so that Brazilians get to know Colombia, and so that Colombians get to know Brazil; but also so that the world gets to know Latin America, Colombia and Brazil better."
The opening ceremony was attended by Luis Carlos Reyes, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, who highlighted the ANATO Tourism Showcase as: “the window through which we show the world the exuberance and wealth of our regions. There is no corner of the country where the birdsong cannot be heard”; he also added: “We are here to strengthen dialogue and listen to their concerns and to build with local governments, not only the country of beauty, but a work that is essential to boost the sector. We can reach 20 million tourist arrivals annually. This industry is a fundamental engine of economic growth, especially in excluded regions. But we can also grow with equality and equity through this industry.”
This was also the stage for the president of ANATO, Paula Cortés Calle, to highlight the importance of entrepreneurs as contributors to the development of the sector, leveraging investments in promotion and infrastructure, which strengthen the competitiveness of destinations. Likewise, she highlighted the growth that the travel industry has been experiencing in Colombia: “At ANATO we estimate that in 2024 tourism will have generated around US$10 billion in foreign currency and with this we would not only surpass coal and coffee, but we would be close to generating the same amount of foreign currency as these two traditional products of the Colombian economy together.”
Source: ANATO.