The National Government, delivered tourism figures, as a fundamental sector to advance in the energy transition towards a sustainable and productive development model.
During this Easter season, the dynamics of tourism in the country increased, despite the fact that connectivity with some tourist destinations was affected by the suspension of flights by VivaAir and UltraAir airlines; There were blockades on some highways in the country, and there was an orange alert in the area of influence of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.
Preliminary figures indicate that more Colombians traveled the country’s highways, in inter-municipal transport, with an approximate growth of 2.28% compared to Holy Week of the previous year.
Religious, nature and non-traditional destinations stand out that had very satisfactory results, such as Cauca, Guainía, Boyacá and Meta.
Destinations such as San Andrés, Santa Marta and Cartagena experienced a decrease in the number of visitors due to difficulties in air connectivity. San Andrés in particular experienced a more complex situation due to its dependence on air transport, while Santa Marta managed to attract tourists by land from places like Valledupar and Barranquilla.
In the national aggregate, with 961,895 passengers reported by five airlines as of April 8, an increase of 4.95% was observed with respect to the flow of passengers by air registered in the same period of 2022, according to preliminary figures from the Civil Aviation.
With the purpose of supporting the Colombian tourism business sector, the National Government through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism is evaluating launching a special line of credit from Bancóldex for municipalities with less than 200,000 inhabitants, Zomac and municipalities PDET, with resources of up to 100 billion pesos, which will be part of the budget addition that is being processed in Congress.
The destination of the resources will be aimed at generating working capital and substitution of liabilities aimed at tourism service providers with a National Registry of Active Tourism. This line has a multiplier effect that can reach 1.2 trillion pesos.
THE MOST VISITED DESTINATIONS
According to preliminary reports from various religious, nature, cultural, coastal and unconventional tourism destinations, the balance of the day was positive. This is some of the most important information:
• Popayan reached 83% hotel occupancy on Holy Thursday. In accordance with reports from the Popayán Transport Terminal, as of Easter Sunday, 77,844 passengers had been mobilized.
• Mompox it once again registered 100% occupancy thanks to its religious activities, cultural heritage of the district. Domestic tourism stands out with visitors from Casanare, Eje Cafetero, Medellín, Atlántico and from the same department of Bolívar, as well as international tourists from France. According to information from the Mompox Terminal, during Holy Week 2023 about 2,430 passengers arrived, which implies growth of 12.3% compared to Holy Week 2022 (2,164), 51.7% compared to the year 2021 (1,606) and 80.3% compared to 2019.
• Data from the Civil Aeronautics indicate that the flow of travelers by air to Bogotá increased by 19% compared to the same period in 2022. During Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Monserrate registered more than 86,000 visitors as reported by the mayor of Bogota.
• in boyacaaccording to information from the Paipa Mayor’s Office, the hot springs presented an increase of 22% in visitors to that tourist attraction compared to Easter in 2019. For its part, during Holy Thursday the Villa de Leyva Mayor’s Office reported 100% hotel occupancy.
• Hotel occupancy in the Quindio it reached 93%, evidencing a positive effect on the tourist panorama that generated a high dynamic in the consumption of theme parks and other services of the department.
• According to the Governor of Metahis department achieved a hotel occupancy rate of 80.6% with a special offer for Easter in municipalities with religious traditions and nature tourism.
• The data supplied by the tourist information point of Guainia indicate that an increase of more than 100% of visitors was registered in the Holy Week of the year 2023 compared to the Holy Week of the year 2022.
• In Cartagena, the district authorities highlighted the increase in travelers traveling by land, which had an increase of 44% compared to the estimated projection. They reported that hotel occupancy closed at 83% for Cotelco members and 77% for Asotelca.
Source: Presidency of the Republic