from campaign, Gustavo Petro’s government proposal has focused on productivity under an environmentally sustainable model. Now, the president has launched the work route that goes between his pillars to stop depending on fossil fuels as a source of income in the country.
(Medellín, cataloged as the best emerging destination in South America).
On August 25, the head of state assured in the National Congress of Travel and Tourism Agencies that he decided to start in the country the potentialization of ecological tourism as the fundamental basis of the country’s economy.
“As an economist, I understand that if we want to replace coal and oil because it is up to us, it is mandatory. We cannot prosper by killing humanity, simple as that. It’s not our fault, but it’s reality”, said the president at the union meeting.
Considering that this is in a country that is based on fossil fuels, Petro proposes to change the chip and empower new sectors to replace dependence on the extractive economy. For this reason, he pointed out that “overcoming the carbonized economy, fossils puts tourism in a fundamental place in Colombian perspectives.”
(Tourism as the central axis of the economy, objective of the Petro government).
The president also pointed out the importance of starting to implement environmental care policies in the sector to maintain a balance in business.
“And foreign tourism, which is a transfer of wealth from the world to here, is equivalent to an export economically speaking the same, foreign tourism arriving in Colombia can be, in the short term, a substitute, I am not saying total, I am not going to exaggerate , at least partial, but important part of the fossil economy on which we depend. It’s that simple,” said the president of Colombia.
In this regard, several analysts have taken their calculators to find out the feasibility of replacing oil with tourism in the country.
The former Vice Minister of Tourism, Julián Guerrero, assured that at a growth rate of 2%, it would take until 2050 to meet the total goal.
(More security and connectivity, Anato’s request to Petro).
“If we take the 6,784 million dollars of foreign exchange generated by travel and air transport in 2019 – the best year for tourism in Colombia – and compare it with the 13,336 million dollars from exports of oil and its derivatives in 2021 (the last full year recorded ), it could be said that Colombia would need to triple its revenues from tourism to replace those generated by oil”told Portafolio Guerrero.
In turn, Manuel Leguizamon , director of Infoconsultoria and professor emeritus at U Externado, supporting the above, adds that with The international tourists that the country currently receives would have to multiply between three and four times to replace oil.
In addition, “tourism contributes about 2.5% of GDP. While the primary sector contributes about 14%”, said the expert.
Given the possibility of making tourism the central axis of the Colombian economy, there are several factors that touch the sector to make this a reality.
For María Luisa Galán, senior consultant Touristology, the country must start working to receive in infrastructure to receive the more than 13 million tourists that the country requires for it.
“We have to prepare the country, do we really want to have 15 million to have that amount in Colombia, when it has been a country that has bet on sustainability, that has tourism that is not overcrowded? That can also bring negative effects, ”she pointed out.
Regarding these concerns, Gustavo Petro assured that he will bet on three fronts to promote international tourism: peace in the territory to ensure that more people can want to visit it through security, take care of the beauty of the territory through ecotourism and improve air infrastructure in the territory. These proposals go hand in hand with the challenges stated by Paula Cortés, president of Anato.
Paula Galeano Balaguera
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