During Easter Week, not everything would paint black as indicated by the tourist unions, according to the Government during this season despite the fact that connectivity with some destinations was affected by the suspension of flights by the Viva and Ultra Air airlines, blockades on some roads in the country, and there was an orange alert in the area of influence of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, most of the country had growth.
(Read: The causes that led to the tourist debacle at Easter).
According to preliminary figures, By land, 2.3% more Colombians traveled in inter-municipal transport regarding Easter and airway 4.5% more, Going from 916,551 passengers transported in 2022 to 961,893 travelers in 2023.
Likewise, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña, highlighted that this good dynamic was achieved thanks to the religious, nature and non-traditional destinations that they had “very satisfactory results”such as Cauca, Guainía, Boyacá and Meta.
On the contrary destinations like San Andrés, Santa Marta and Cartagena experienced a decrease in the number of visitors due to difficulties in air connectivity. San Andrés in particular experienced a more complex situation due to its dependence on air transport, while Santa Marta managed to attract tourists by land from places like Valledupar and Barranquilla.
Given this, the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes announced that he continues to review the possibility of reducing the VAT on tickets (or tourist products), but not to 5%, but it evaluates a reduction that does not alter the collection that the Government expects.
(Read: The complaint from San Andrés: “It was the worst Holy Week in history”).
The most visited destinations
– Popayan reached 83% hotel occupancy on Holy Thursday. In accordance with reports from the Popayán Transport Terminal, as of Easter Sunday, 77,844 passengers had been mobilized.
– Mompox once again registered 100% occupancy thanks to their religious activities, cultural heritage of the district. Domestic tourism stands out with visitors from Casanare, Eje Cafetero, Medellín, Atlántico and from the same department of Bolívar, as well as international tourists from France. According to information from the Mompox Terminal, during Holy Week 2023 about 2,430 passengers arrived, which implies growth of 12.3% compared to Holy Week 2022 (2,164), 51.7% compared to the year 2021 (1,606) and 80.3% compared to 2019.
– Data from the Civil Aeronautics indicate that the flow of travelers by air to Bogotá increased by 19% compared to the same period in 2022. During Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Monserrate registered more than 86,000 visitors as reported by the mayoress of Bogotá.
Read: Paneleros go from producers to become tour operators
– In Boyacá, According to information from the Mayor’s Office Paipa, the hot springs presented an increase of 22% in visitors to this tourist attraction compared to Holy Week of the year 2019. For its part, during Holy Thursday the Mayor’s Office of Villa de Leyva reported 100% hotel occupancy.
– Hotel occupancy in Quindío reached 93%, evidencing a positive effect on the tourist panorama that generated a high dynamic in the consumption of theme parks and other department services.
– According to him Governor of Meta, his department achieved a hotel occupancy rate of 80.6% with a special offer for Easter in municipalities with religious tradition and nature tourism.
– The data provided by the tourist information point of Guainía indicate that an increase of more than 100% of visitors was registered in the Holy Week of the year 2023 compared to the Holy Week of the year 2022.
Read: These are the subsidies that the Government would give due to an air crisis
– In Cartagena, The district authorities highlighted the increase in travelers traveling by land, which had an increase of 44% compared to the estimated projection. They reported that hotel occupancy closed at 83% for Cotelco members and 77% for Asotelca.
PAULA ANDREA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Portfolio Journalist
