The government expects 5.2 million international tourists to arrive in the country this year

At Iberia Space, tourism sector leaders gathered to discuss the importance of the aviation and international tourism industry to the country’s economy, as it drives the sector’s economic growth figures. With this good dynamic, The government set a target for this year of 5.2 million foreign tourists, 700,000 more than in 2022.

(Read: For 10 years, B3 Hotels will open Casa Selvaggio in Rakira).

The session was moderated by Francisco Miranda, Portfolio Manager, and featured Paula Cortés, CEO of the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (ANATO); Paola Bernal, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); Juan Cerco, Director of Iberia and Gilberto Salcedo, Vice President of Tourism of Procolombia, The leaders highlighted the role of international tourism and environmental and economic sustainability As the basic pillars for the further development of this sector.

(Join our WhatsApp channel here and get all the economic information about Colombia and the world).

Month after month, the civil aviation company has shown double-digit growth in foreign tourist arrivals in the country. Therefore, in order to achieve The government’s target for the four-year period is 7.5 million tourist arrivals annually (or in an optimistic scenario more than 12 million), it has developed a five-pillar plan that contemplates promoting destinations and the local economy for sustainable tourism over time.

(Read: Vontur approves $102.491 million investment for 21 projects).

“The goal is to reach 5.2 million passengers into the country this year. We have five pillars to achieve this. The first is air connectivity, and we are fully committed to creating an enabling platform so that international tourism can happen in Colombia. The second is the segmentation of 13 specific markets from which 85% of International traffic to Colombia. The third is to strengthen the “tourist areas”, where in six areas we inventory the most important tourism products and identify the type of traveler in each destination, which allows us to obtain more efficient returns on the investments we make. explained Gilberto Salcedo, ProColombia’s Vice President of Tourism.

Likewise, Salcedo pointed out The country has the hotel and airport infrastructure capacity to accommodate 7.5 million passengers annually, Therefore, we must bring investment and strengthen the country in this matter to achieve the government’s goal of 12 million tourists in four years. In the next five or six years, the contribution that today’s tourism GDP makes to national GDP will double.

He stressed that the country is on the right track to achieve the goal, indicating that the monthly figures show that the country is moving towards the government’s goal, since the period between… From January to July, the number of foreign visitors to the country increased by 34%. In addition, “from January to June, we have a 28% growth in foreign exchange generation on behalf of inbound tourism to the country, which puts international tourism in the first line of non-energy foreign exchange generation in the country.” said ProColumbia’s Vice President of Tourism.

(Read: Hotel sector completes seven months of positive results).

However, although the government seeks to put tourism in the first line of foreign exchange, it wants to do so with tourists who are aware of their environment, and who preserve the nature and culture of the destinations, thus contributing to long-term sustainability. From this sector.Term. There, the links in the chain joined forces one by one to provide their products and services for these goals.

“Aviation is clear about this need to be aligned with life. Not only do we have a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, but we are also developing the mechanisms to achieve this.” SAF or aviation biofuels, emissions reductions and many other initiatives And thinking about how to mitigate the impact that this industry generates,” Paula Bernal, Director of the International Air Transport Association, said:

(Read: Inflation: How much Colombians spend on domestic tourism).

In this regard, Juan Serco, director of the Spanish airline Iberia, pointed out this in the world Industry contributes between 2% and 3% of carbon dioxide emissions, Therefore, decarbonization should not be implemented quickly and unsuccessfully, but rather should be sustainable over time.

“If we go towards radical and unconscious sustainability, we will fail. We must sit down, talk and think through technology and science, not through extremism and ideology, but rather find effective solutions so that the goal is achievable in the shortest possible time,” he added.Salcedo said.

While international tourism is rebounding in numbers, the domestic market is still taking a hit due to the departure of two players in the sector, the return of VAT, and inflation, which made August… The number of domestic tourists decreased by 12%. From Bernal’s point of view, it is necessary to examine the tax burden model for airlines, because these factors influence the decision-making process in what he considers to be basic public transportation, in addition to the following: 80% of airlines’ liabilities are in dollars.

“75% of aviation users are Tiers 2 and 3. It is clear that this is a service that is not just intended for some sectors of the population, but rather a service that a large part of the population depends on,” he said. “Macroeconomic factors make the costs complex (… Therefore, the sector is making every effort to generate more connectivity and increase access to the service.”

(Read: The responsible traveler’s guide: Eight key points.)

With these uncertain forecasts, travel agencies have been forced to scramble to keep their finances afloat, but they have sacrificed profitability.

“We have a 12% drop in passengers nationwide which has brought down our balance. However, international tourism is driving sales (30%), and taking into account the rising costs and inflation and everything we are seeing, this income is not equivalent to the profit we made before A few years, but it is still an important income.” said Paula Curtis, CEO of Anato.

With this in mind, the leaders pointed to several challenges that must be overcome to build Colombia as an international magnet and achieve the government’s goal: Review the tax system, enhance traveler safety, airport and hotel infrastructure, or promote bilingualism.

Paola Andrea Galeano Balaguera
Portfolio journalist