Although for many Colombians, Holy Week is a time for reflection, for others it is a vacation time. However, in Huila, it seems that time is required to leave the apartment, but above all money.
Diary of Huila, economy
By: Gloria Camargo
From 51,000 pesos, a person will be able to travel from Neiva to the city of Bogotá by land, while the same journey by air will cost a minimum of 245,910 pesos, with which leaving the department of Huila can become a luxury for many people this Holy Week.
Regarding the issue, the manager of the Bogotá Transport Terminal, Ana María Zambrano, revealed how they are preparing for the Easter season and inter-municipal trips.
Zambrano highlighted that during the first days of this season, people prefer short-distance destinations, such as Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Meta. This is because these places are usually more accessible and cheaper for travelers. In addition, many of these destinations have a wide tourist offer that attracts visitors.
However, as Holy Week progresses, travelers begin to seek more distant and exotic destinations. Therefore, more destinations such as Huila, Antioquia and the Caribbean departments are beginning to be seen. These places are very popular with tourists due to their beautiful beaches, natural landscapes and rich culture, but he noted that these destinations can also be more expensive and require more planning on the part of travelers.
Huíla without information
Meanwhile, to date in the department there is no information on the destinations or how the Neiva Transport Terminal will operate, although the Diario del Huila established communication with the Manager of the entity, Rahda Hermosa Camacho, to know the estimated number of travelers , buses, services and security measures, it was not possible to obtain a response.
Added to this, on the Terminal’s website, there are no press releases referring to this issue, nor are there any references on its social networks.
In contrast, the Medellín Transport Terminal indicated that they expect 680 thousand people, it is expected that they can be mobilized through the Medellín Terminals, while in the Cali Terminal, it was also announced by the Management that a mobilization is expected of more than 40,000 daily passengers.
Regional carriers
Meanwhile, Marino Castro Carvajal, manager of Cootranshuila, indicated that since the emergency in Pericongo, they have had a large-scale impact “due to economic losses due to the lack of passenger demand, which decreased on journeys from the capital of the republic, that is, Bogotá, towards the South Colombian region, especially the municipalities of Timaná, Pitalito, Mocoa and in general in the department of Putumayo.
In the same way, the problem in the continuous operation (travel time) of our vehicles due to the transfers of users carried out in the municipality of Garzón and Altamira, which caused an increase in operating costs and the assimilation of the cost of transshipment. with smaller capacity vehicles that increased the rate by 30 to 50%.
Likewise, the operational coverage towards Pitalito and the department of Putumayo was affected by not being able to move our vehicles to these sites, in order to meet our objective”.
In reference to the increase in costs, Castro pointed out that “operating costs increased by more than 50% in transportation inputs and coupled with the high costs of transshipments, damage to vehicles due to the poor condition of alternate roads and the human resources that should be increased in per diems and work periods that wear out the entire operation”.
Therefore, he pointed out that the call to the National Government is to move from promises to actions in Pericongo.
“Due to this emergency, we return to the time of 5 years, 10 years and 15 years ago, where the concessions in charge of Route 45 did not make any kind of progress in the road infrastructure of these sections, they only dedicated themselves to collecting the values of the tolls without progress of works, which is why the National Government, Invías and the concession are only asked to start the adjustments and road maintenance throughout this area to minimize all the affectations that always occur in periods of high rainfall that They have been presented year after year.
We believe that they should already have all the resources saved from the last 20 years to improve the connections between Neiva and the south of the country, equivalent to the route promised 15 years ago, Neiva-Mocoa-La Hormiga, which should have already been finished. without so much bureaucracy and so many natural resources that were extracted from this entire oil zone”.
Regarding the mobility plan for Easter, he explained that “the great disadvantage of this entire area is that there is only one main one that supports the constant operation of all road users Trucks, mules, buses, minibuses and individuals, because The road through Acevedo is in very poor road conditions, road safety, piracy and it is definitely a road that increases all operating costs.
The tertiary road through El Naranjal presents constant blockages from the same community for the same reason that the national and departmental government does not make the investments promised during these years ago and is not in a position to support traffic for all these dates.
The road through Garzón – Tarqui – Elias is in very poor condition to support the operation of all vehicles,” he pointed out.
Finally, the Manager asked travelers to be careful on the roads and, as always, “a lot of patience and understanding, because transport companies try to comply with schedules and traffic at the regional level. And a call to the Concession: expedite the adaptation of the Pericongo road. The opita community is good people, hardworking, honest, but at any moment the quiet and submissive friend wakes up, “he concluded.
National providers
Information provided by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Commerce, established that at the national level there are more than 87 thousand tourist service providers in the country and are ready to offer travelers activities and experiences during this Holy Week, the season in which most they demand attractions and religious and cultural tourism plans.
“On this date, a significant impact of tourism is expected in 17,901 accommodation establishments in the country, 9,093 tourist farms, more than 1,398 gastronomic establishments, in the trades of 3,727 tourist guides, and in 13,081 travel agencies, among other providers,” He indicated the wallet.
But although the Ministry pointed out that “international air ticket reservations for this season also show a very positive expectation, since according to the Forwardkeys platform, more than 50,000 reservations have been made on flights from abroad, which represents growth close to 33.6% compared to the same period in 2022”, Anato launched an alert.
According to the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies, there is a 30% reduction in the sales of tourist packages for Easter. And according to businessmen in the sector, this decrease in sales would be related to the airline crises and uncertainty in the air market. However, the expectations of businessmen do not meet reality, since the tourist destinations in the Caribbean region continue to be preferred by travelers.
Paula Cortés Calle, executive president of Anato, said that “this season reveals a worrying contraction in the marketing of tourism products and services. Holy Week has been characterized as the starting point to find out the behavior that the industry will have throughout the year, for which this data alerts us. Therefore, she highlighted that the airline crises and the uncertainty in the air market are factors that are affecting tourism in the country.
