Tourism in Colombia: Difference between revisions

Tourism in Colombia is an important sector in the country's economy. Colombia has major attractions as a tourist destination, such as Cartagena and its historic surroundings, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List; the insular department of San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina; and Santa Marta and the surrounding area. Fairly recently, Bogotá, the nation's capital, has become Colombia's major tourist destination because of its improved museums and entertainment facilities and its major urban renovations, including the rehabilitation of public areas, the development of parks, and the creation of an extensive network of cycling routes. With its very rich and varied geography, which includes the Amazon and Andean regions, the llanos, the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the deserts of La Guajira, and its unique biodiversity, Colombia also has major potential for ecotourism.

In the early to mid-1980s, international tourism arrivals in Colombia reached nearly 1.4 million per year. Although they decreased by more than half thereafter, they have recovered at rates of more than 10 percent annually since 2002, reaching 1.9 million visitors in 2006. Tourism usually has been considered a low-growth service industry in Colombia because of internal violence, but in 2006 the country earned US$2 billion from international tourism. Tourists visiting Colombia from abroad came mainly from the United States (24.5 percent), followed by Venezuela (13.4 percent), Ecuador (9.1 percent), Spain (6.4 percent), and Mexico (4.9 percent). Approximately 90 percent of foreign tourists arrive by air, 10 percent by land transportation, and a tiny share by sea.

The recovery of tourism has been helped by the Democratic Security and Defense Policy of Álvaro Uribe Vélez (president, 2002–6, 2006–10) and the so-called tourist caravans (caravanas turísticas), in which military forces provide reinforced protection on previously scheduled days to roads reaching major holiday attractions. The Democratic Security Policy, as it is known, is aimed at reestablishing control over all of the nation's territory, fighting illegal drugs and organized crime, and strengthening the justice system. The government also has been working toward generating a significant recovery in international tourism through Proexport Colombia, the public export-promotion agency. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism is the Colombian ministry in charge of tourism affairs.

Popular times to visit Colombia include the most famous festivals such as the Cali's Fair, the Barranquilla's Carnival, the Bogota Summer Festival, the Ibero-American Theater Festival and the Flower Festival is when the most foreign tourists go to Colombia. Many people visit Colombia during Christmas time and the celebrations surrounding the Independence of Colombia. The Ministry of Tourism considers high seasons the Holy Week, summer (June, July, August, September) and Christmas season. During the holy week many travel to the Caribbean Region of Colombia or visit popular landmarks like Las Lajas Cathedral, Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, the towns of Santa Cruz de Mompox, Guamal or Popayán where Roman Catholic traditions and rituals are performed, among others.

Attractions

World Heritage Sites

Defence system around Cartagena's old town

Clock Tower in Cartagena de Indias. Cartagena is one of the tourist districts of Colombia and main tourist destination for its historic attractions, cultural and recreational activities. Also considered by UNESCO as World Heritage.

There are a number of UN World Heritage Sites located in Colombia:

• Cartagena
• Los Katíos National Park
• Malpelo Island
• Santa Cruz de Mompox
• San Agustín, Huila
• Tierradentro
• The Cannon Museum
• Taganga

Attractions in Bogotá and District

Muisca raft in the Gold Museum, Bogotá

• Bogotá Botanical Garden
• Bolívar Square
• Capitolio Nacional
• Gold Museum
• La Candelaria
• Luís Ángel Arango Library
• Maloka Museum
• Monserrate
• Usaquén
• Zona Rosa
• National Museum
• Children's Museum of Bogotá
• Botero Museum
• Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Museum
• Zona G
• Modern Art Museum
• Parque Jaime Duque
• Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira

Other attractions

• Ciudad Perdida
• Colombian National Coffee Park
• Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
• San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia
• Villa de Leyva

Ecotourism

Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis

Main article: Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis

The Colombian coffee-growers axis (Spanish: eje cafetero) is a part the Colombian Paisa region famous for the growing and production of most Colombian coffee, renowned as some of the best coffee in the world. The axis is composed of three departments: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. These departments are among the smallest departments in Colombia with a total combined area of 13873 km² (5356 mi²), this amounts to roughly 1.2% of the Colombian territory. The combined population is 2,291,195 (2007 census)

Main article: List of national parks of Colombia

File:Parque-del-cafe.jpg

Colombian National Coffee Park. Quindío is the second most popular tourist destination in Colombia.

Colombia has coastline, mountainous areas, and tropical jungle. There are volcanoes and waterfalls.

• Amacayacu National Park
• Cabo de la Vela
• Cocora valley
• Los Nevados
• Doña Juana-Cascabel Volcanic Complex
• Gorgona and Malpelo islands
• Los Katíos National Park
• Munchique National Park
• Serranía de la Macarena
• Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park
• PANACA Park
• Tayrona Park (Santa Marta)
• Tatacoa Desert
• Chicamocha Canyon National Park
• El Mariposario enthomologic display specialized in Lepidoptera
• Peñas Blancas rock climbing site.

Safety

See also: Security issues in Colombia

Tourism Police, a unit of the Colombian National Police deployed to tourist areas to improve security. Here in the town of Villa de Leyva.

Security in Colombia is stipulated by the Colombian armed conflict. As of 2011 actors in this conflict includes leftist guerrilla groups like FARC, ELN, right-leaning paramilitary goups like Los Rastrojos and Águilas Negras, in addition to the Colombian armed foces and national police. According to the Colombian army FARC has an estimated 18,000 members in 2011, while ELN and the new paramilitary groups are thought to be numerically weaker. According to the Colombian congress FARC has a 'strong presence' in roughly 1/3 of Colombia as of 2011, with the largest concentration of Guerrillas located in the Andean zone between Valle del Cauca and Meta Department. Other security concerns include 'very high' murder rates, with more 16,000 intentional homicides in 2010, in addition to high levels of street crime. According to UNICEF Colombia has the highest amount of planted landmines in the world. Due to the armed conflict, cocaine trade and other security issues Colombia has long been the subject of travel advisories. In November of 2010 the U.S. State department updated their travel warning for the country, stating that 2010 saw an increase in crime, insecurity and 'terrorist activity' compared to previous years. The state department report was dismissed by the Colombian government, who asked the state department to review the update.

Lonely Planet, a world travel publisher, picked Colombia as one of their top 10 world destinations for 2006. The World Tourism Organization reported in 2004 that Colombia achieved the third highest percentage increase of tourist arrivals in South America between 2000 and 2004 (9.2%). Only Peru and Suriname had higher increases during the same period. In 2010 Colombia received less than 1,5 million foreign visitors, with the majority of them coming from Venezuela, the United States and Brazil.

Transportation

Main article: Transport in Colombia

There are regular international flights into major cities including Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cali, Medellin and Bogotá as well as to other smaller cities in the borders with Venezuela and Ecuador. There are daily direct flights to and from the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France and South America. Domestic air transportation is inexpensive and readily available. Buses travel between cities, but may not be safe when traveling at night.

Weather

The climate is tropical along coast and eastern plains; cold in the highlands; periodic droughts. Colombia is an equatorial country, so there are no seasons in the usual sense of the word; temperatures do not vary much throughout the year. What Colombians normally refer to as the winter is the rainy season.

External links

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