Meta is ready to receive more than half a million tourists during Holy Week in the different municipalities of the department. For this, there are 27,000 beds available in hotels in Villavicencio and neighboring municipalities, especially those with a religious tradition: Restrepo, San Martín, Guamal and Acacías, among others.
The director of the Meta Tourism Institute, Luis Carlos Londoño Vargas, pointed out that they are ready for the consolidation of Meta as one of the preferred destinations for Colombians through religious tourism. They seek tourism to be a motor of the regional economy that allows reactivating the sector by generating more than 57,000 direct and indirect jobs, taking into account that each person who visits the Meta invests an average of one million pesos during their stay.
Programming in the Greater Week
In the capital of Meta, a skylight concert, bandolas and guest artists have been prepared. Los Libertadores square will be the epicenter, on Tuesday, April 2, of the start of Holy Week activities scheduled by the Archdiocese of Villavicencio with the support of the departmental government. Similarly, the Museum of Pope Francis, located in the Parque de la Cultura Llanera Las Malocas, will open its doors to the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.
In chiva, and accompanied by tour guides knowledgeable about the religious history of several representative churches of the city of Villavicencio, the visit to the monuments will take place on Holy Thursday, which will begin at the church of the Doce de Octubre neighborhood of Nuestra Señora del Pilar; continuing through the María de la Iglesia Parish in the El Caudal neighborhood; Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the La Grama neighborhood; San Benito Parish of the San Benito neighborhood; Cristo Sacerdote Parish, El Buque neighborhood; The Eucharistic Temple Parish of the El Barzal neighborhood; Nuestra Señora del Carmen Cathedral Parish in the Downtown neighborhood and will culminate in the Pueblito Llanero Chapel in the Las Malocas Llanera Culture Park.
In Restrepo, the world capital of rice bread, religious tourism will also be experienced through a concert of bandolas and artists next Wednesday, April 5, in the Rafael Reyes main park. On Holy Thursday, the residents of Restrepense will also exalt religious history through a tour in six jeeps through four monuments, starting at 6 in the afternoon at the Immaculate Conception Sanctuary Parish, continuing with the Nuestra Señora del Carmen Major Seminary, the San Vicente de Paul and ending at the Nuestra Señora de la Nueva Alianza Parish.
More activities for all tastes
Tourists will also be able to enjoy tourist sites such as the Los Ocarros Biopark and its 146 endemic species of the Orinoquia, the Alto de Menegua in Puerto López, the Güejar river canyon and many more attractions that await locals and visitors. In addition, in the municipalities of San Martín, Acacías and Guamal, traditional activities will be carried out such as artistic exhibitions, Stations of the Cross, processions, folk concerts, peasant markets, among others.
Source: Government of Meta