In an interview with Portfolio, María Carolina Padilla, country manager of Civitatis in Colombia, recounted the progress of the firm after formally starting operations in the country in 2022. In addition, he warned about the challenges this new year, with rising inflation.
(See: Where to travel with my pet in 2023? Here are five must-see places).
How long ago did they arrive in Colombia?
We are a company of tours, experiences and excursions in the world, our company was born in Spain in 2008 and we are leaders in the ‘online’ distribution of all these experiences.
Today we have our eyes on Latin America and especially Colombia. We made an attempt to reach the country before the pandemic, of course due to the situation we left everything alone and this project already took off in 2022.
It is worth remembering that we have opened over the years in Spain, Italy, France with very stable numbers. And we began to consolidate in 2022 in Latin America.
How did you end the year?
Very good, with a lot of growth, each month was better than the last. We are having monthly growth between 50% and 60%, of course these high growths occur because we are new to the Colombian market.
(See: US$15 million will be invested in an ecological hotel in Guatapé).
How have you seen receptive tourism in the country with the devalued peso?
On the one hand, it is very good and we hope that the figures for passenger arrivals will continue, because what for some the dollar effect is one way, for others it can manifest itself in another.
There are challenges that we must face, such as inflation and the devaluation of the Colombian peso, however, there are national destinations that are very attractive, not only because of their beauty, but of course, for foreigners who come to consume in pesos, it is a great advantage. against your currency.
It is estimated that the country will continue the pace of 2022 and that the arrival of tourists will be between 6% and 10% higher than in 2022.
Tourism.
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What trends will there be this year with rising inflation?
For the Colombian the situation is not the best, however, for foreign tourists it is an opportunity. For the industry, what we cannot do nationally will go international.
But on the other hand, since the pandemic we see that people travel locally, not only nationally, but in their own city, that will surely be a trend that will continue this new year.
(See: Colombian driving license: in which countries is it valid?).
And how much do you expect to grow in the country?
Between 50% and 70%, since we are new. This is a country with a lot of potential.
We are a company that starts promoting and strengthening wherever it arrives, enriching the national tourism product. Today we have 742 activities in the country from the capital to remote places where the foreigner is dedicated to knowing more than us Colombians.
In which cities do you have a presence and which ones do you hope to reach this year?
In Colombia we are in 69 destinations such as Armenia, Bahía Solano, Barichara, Barranquilla, Barú, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cali, among others.
We have an area that is in charge of investigating which are the destinations and experiences most requested by tourists, that is why we have from a tour of Cartagena to going to know the Amazon, there is everything.
How did you see high season?
We did very well, the purchase anticipation was good. In December and in general, we had a very stable year.
Those peaks are marked in June, July, October and December, which is very good. However, on December 20, purchases are already beginning to flatten out. The Top destinations were Santa Marta, Cartagena, Bogotá and Medellín.
(See: Corporate and incoming tourism would maintain the same dynamics as in 2022).
And for Easter, how do you see the dynamics?
We are just beginning the year and in Colombia we see that the anticipation for trips is a maximum of 25 days in advance.
To say that we have many reservations for that date, not yet. However, our expectation is to reach levels similar to those of the previous year with growth curves between 60% and 75%.
Challenges in 2023: VAT of 19%
“Undoubtedly, this is one of the challenges, along with national and international inflation, the devaluation of our Colombian peso and the labor reform. VAT is a tax that goes or goes and our item always had it, except for these two years. We know that it is a challenge, but that it is an integral part of the rate. We believe that with this VAT tourists will reduce their time at the destination, for example, from two weeks down to 10 days because all the aforementioned factors affect”, mentioned the general director of Civitatis in Colombia in this regard.
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Journalist Portfolio
Twitter: @Paula1GB
