Ampliare
El Carnaval de Barranquilla ha sido declarado Patrimonio Oral e Inmaterial de la Humanidad. The Carnival of Barranquilla has been declared Oral and Intangible World Humanity.
Ampliare
Ampliare

FOR THE YEAR 2020, COLOMBIA’S TRAVEL SECTOR WILL OUTPERFORM COAL IN TERMS OF EXPORT REVENUES

Bogota, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Medellin, Cartagena, the Coffee Cultural Landscape and San Andres continue to lead the ranking of the most sought-after travel destinations in Colombia, especially now that foreign tourists feel the country is safer following the peace agreement signed between the government and the FARC guerrillas in November 2016.
Along with the depreciation of the Colombian peso against hard currencies (which makes it more economical), this has been one of the main factors that makes the country’s tourism authorities believe that the local travel industry will outperform coal as far as export revenues are concerned, let alone as the main source of foreign currency income. But also, according to a study by BBVA Research, because improvements in the infrastructure required by the industry are already noticeable, which is also expressed in the growth of hotel guestrooms.
“The tourism sector has great potentials to grow; it is a sector that accrues at a faster rate than the whole economy and accounts for 2.1% of the Colombian Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” said Juana Téllez, chief economist at BBVA Colombia.
VISITS THAT CAN’T BE PASSED UP
One of the main destinations is the main route through which tourists can access Colombia by plane: Bogotá, the ancient city of Our Lady of Hope, founded in 1538 by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, on a savannah located at 2,600 meters above sea level in the eastern part of the Andes mountain range, the location that ultimately gave it its name.
Undoubtedly, the capital is a must for those who are eager to explore the best that country has to offer. It is worth observing it from the hill of Monserrate, its most famous viewpoint, which can be reached by foot or cable car, and where the Basilica of the Lord of Monserrate is perched on, a place of pilgrimage since the times of the colonial rule. However, a neighborhood like La Candelaria, in the historic center, with its narrow streets (as well as those in the exclusive Usaquén), need to be admired closely because that’s also home to the Botero Museum, which cherishes the outstanding legacy of renowned that local muralist, painter and sculptor.
Although there’s abundance of interesting museums, we must choose, above all, the Gold Museum, whose collection -belonging to the Bank of the Republic- is considered the most important of its kind in the world. The museum boasts over 34,000 pieces of goldsmith and 20,000 lithic artifacts, textiles, ceramics and precious stones that belonged to the Tayrona, Tolima, Tumaco and Malagana cultures.
It takes just a one-hour drive to get to Zipaquirá, where there is an impressive Salt Cathedral, some sort of shrine built inside that famous mine, penciled in as one of the largest on the planet.
Colombia is also among the nations that vie to be called the land of the world’s best coffee, although most connoisseurs point out that it really is that way. In any case, UNESCO granted the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape the status of World Heritage, for the culture that characterizes it and its extraordinary natural wealth (multiple climates and ecosystems, a haven of approximate 1,500 butterfly species), currently under the status of world biodiversity preservation zone. In 2016, this exceptional site was recognized with the Excelencias Award.
All the brightness of the Caribbean can be seen in Barranquilla, where the very first thing any traveler should do is attend the local carnival, declared Oral and Intangible World Heritage, crying out the motto that “only those who live it are the one who do enjoy it”. However, the country’s fourth-largest has plenty of charms to offer, especially to lovers of watersports, ecological tourism and adventures.
As irresistible as Colombia is, the country is “a rainbow of opportunities,” as the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, José Manuel Restrepo put it as he was promoting the #YoVoy campaign by inviting his fellow Colombians to make domestic tourism a recurrent activity and live deep in the flesh the pride of inhabiting a country that has set out to conquer the world.