Convention International I MICE News und Trends aus der MICE – Branche
Colombia is prepared to welcome the German travelers who want to enjoy the exuberance of its nature, its ancestral traditions and mixture of cultures, the sun and beach of the oceans that bathe it or the wide network of establishments and experiences destined for business tourism.
“The country has been working hard these months to reactivate tourism, a key industry for Colombia, which generates more foreign exchange than coffee or bananas.”, explains Jewgeni Patrouchev, Senior Tourism and MICE representative Central- & Eastern Europe at ProColombia. “To this end, the adoption of biosecurity measures has been a priority.”, he adds.
The government of Colombia has created the Touristic Biosecurity Certification: “Certified Check-in, biosafe COVID-19”, with the support of both the World Tourism Organization and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Colombia is officially the first country in Latin America with this type of certification. So far, 285 companies have already been certified among 10 airports and 5 airlines such as VivaAir, LATAM, Avianca, Wingo, Satena and Easy Fly. Airports such as El Dorado in Bogota facilitate the flow of passengers thanks to functionalities such as location, capacity control and flight information with an application that can be found on mobile phones. The airport has also established a laboratory that can deliver results in two hours for molecular tests of POCT, rapid antigen and lgG antibodies. It has also enabled the processing of isothermal PCR tests with results delivered in twenty-four hours. Likewise, Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport is the first airport in South America to be certified with the 5 Star COVID-19 Airport Security Classification by the international air transport classification agency Skytrax. And the World Travel Awards recognized it as South America’s Leading Airport 2020.
On the other hand, there are more than 50 resolutions issued by the Ministry of Health that stipulate biosecurity protocols for all economic sectors including touristic activities: restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, parks, natural reserves, commercial establishments, among many others.
In order to travel to the country, it is not necessary to perform the PCR test although the traveler should not present fever or respiratory symptoms associated with Covid-19. In addition, the Check-Mig form must be completed prior to boarding.
A year full of acknowledgments for Colombia as a touristic destination.
“In spite of the difficulties of 2020, the country has continued to obtain important recognitions that maintain its position as an international tourist destination.”, mentions Mr. Patrouchev. Colombia.travel won the Webby People’s Voice Award as the best tourism website in the world in the Travel category. The country won for the fourth and fifth consecutive time the Global Big Day, the world’s most important birdwatching competition, both in the May and October versions. Colombia won 9 awards at the World Travel Awards 2020 in the South America version: Best Leading Culinary Destination in South America 2020 and Best LGBT Destination in South America 2020. In addition, ProColombia was recognized as the Leading South American Travel Agency 2020 and six cities were recognized: San Andres won as South America’s Leading Beach Destination, Bogota as South America’s leading business travel destination, Medellin as South America’s leading city break destination, Barranquilla as South America’s leading cultural city, Cali as South America’s leading emerging tourism destination and Cartagena as South America’s leading honeymoon destination.
At the same time, Trip Advisor included Cartagena among its 25 best fashion destinations worldwide. Condé Nast Traveller ranked Colombia among the top 20 destinations in the world. FVW chose it as the favorite destination in the Americas for Germans and The Telegraph chose the country as the perfect getaway destination for European travelers.
In addition, in the latest ranking of the International Association of Congresses and Conventions, Colombia continues to be among the top 30 world destinations that held the largest number of events in 2019.
Colombia’s tourism potential
Colombia is the second country with the greatest biodiversity in the world and offers nature tourism experiences such as diving, equestrian tourism, hiking, two-wheel tourism, bird and whale watching and trekking, gastronomic routes, coffee plantations, heritage villages and cultural traditions, among other attractions. Travelers visiting the country will enjoy the variety of topography and ecosystems offered by the five regions that make up the territory.
For the week of December 14th – 20th, the country has 514 weekly frequencies and 89,771 international seats available connecting to 13 countries, capacity that increases week by week. As of today, Germany is connected to Colombia through 3 weekly frequencies operated by Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Bogotá. According to studies by ProColombia and FowardKeys on air reservations to Colombia, between November 2019 and November 2020 more than 124,291 reservations are registered to be effective in the period from November 2020 to April 2021.
ProColombia works to consolidate Colombia as a responsible, sustainable, reliable and high-quality tourism destination with enriching and unique experiences to offer. The entity understood this stage as an isolation for enlistment and therefore contemplated a series of actions in line with the objectives set for 2020 and to regain the confidence of travelers.
Germany is the third largest emitter of travelers from the European Union to Colombia, preceded by Spain and France. At the end of 2019, the arrivals of foreigners residing in Germany to Colombia had a growth of 9.5% with respect to 2018. Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena and Cali are the main destination cities.
