Moscow, January 25, 2024. The ambassador of Colombia in Russia, Héctor Arenas Neira, participated in the meeting of experts on sustainable tourism in Latin America, held within the framework of the annual meeting of the Global Financial Forum “Ecumene”, in alliance with the International Center of Wine and Gastronomy ICWAG.
In the meeting, which took place at the publishing house of the Russian press and radio network “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, several ambassadors from Latin American countries participated, including Peru, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Uruguay, Venezuela, the director of the Committee National for Economic Cooperation with Latin America Tatiana Mashkova, the President of ICWAG Leonid Gelibterman and other representatives of the diplomatic corps and Russian entities associated with tourism. The roundtable was moderated by Ecumene Program Director, Sergey Rybakov.
Ambassador Héctor Arenas shared with the experts that sustainability is one of the pillars of the Tourism Sector Plan 2022-2026 and that in Colombia a strategy was designed to be at the forefront in the integration of sustainable practices throughout the tourism industry. To achieve this, the country is implementing a tourism promotion policy, where different actors, including the government, tour operators, travel agents, hotels and localities with tourist attractions, must collaborate to build an industry that respects the natural environment and the local communities.
The Colombian Ambassador also referred to the focus of the Government of President Gustavo Petro on taking advantage of the natural and cultural riches of the regions, so that the presence of national and foreign visitors generates income and quality of life for its inhabitants. Likewise, he highlighted that after the challenging period caused by the pandemic, Colombia’s tourism sector is booming. He pointed out that last year the “Colombia: the Country of Beauty” strategy was launched since sustainability in tourism has gone from being a trend to an absolute necessity, becoming the focus of the country’s promotion strategy.
The Ecumene Global Financial Forum Expert Club is a group of global experts based in Russia that addresses the main issues of long-term sustainable development of the world economy, as well as the development of new approaches to the implementation of fundamental tasks of the climate action, among other international sustainable development topics and initiatives.
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