Our sales department in Spain and Mexico participated in the 42nd edition of Vitrina Turística Anato, which this year exceeded all expectations. More than 27,000 professional visitors, a thousand exhibitors, 20 countries and the 32 departments of Colombia have celebrated a meeting where the tourism projection of Colombia and its surroundings seems to have entered a path of growth and consolidation.

The Colombian president himself, Gustavo Petro, spoke of tourism as “the new oil, due to the great importance of this sector in the country’s economy”. For her part, the executive president of Anato, Paula Cortés, referred to these keys to strengthening the sector: maintaining the 5% VAT on airline tickets, the exemption of this tax on accommodation, that “the government understands that tourism is a state policy, an articulation for its development throughout the territory and to continue strengthening the air and land infrastructure“.

But beyond the interventions and considerations of the government and the organising entity, the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies, the reality is that the Vitrina Turística left a good feeling in the Dingus® delegation. The meetings with clients and business opportunities allowed us to certify the interest in our platform and its technological possibilities, while the connectivity portfolio has become a real incentive for the hoteliers and their expectations of consolidation of their main markets (the American and Venezuelan), and the attraction of other referents such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Prospects 2023

According to the Colombian Ministry of Tourism, a good pace of activity is expected to be maintained in 2023, with the arrival of 4.6 million visitors. This would represent an increase of between 6% and 10% compared to 2022.

The challenges for the industry in Colombia, however, are marked by factors such as finding the talent to serve the customer in the right way for the expectations generated by the destination, as well as the return of corporate tourism, with business travel as one of the main sources of income.

Experts also highlight sustainability as an essential factor increasingly demanded by customers to choose their tourist experience and, decisive for Dingus®, the necessary automation of the industry. Technological platforms such as ours are the ones that can meet the needs of hotels in terms of adapting to new mechanisms to generate greater proximity with tourists and trust in the Colombian offer.

Cristina Torres. Corporate communication and media relations
cristina.torres@hittgroup.es