Some Interesting Tourism Figures of Colombia

Colombia is situated in the northwestern part of the continent of South America. The Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean run along Colombia’s shores. The Andes Mountains are located inside Colombia’s boundaries and are a popular hiking destination for tourists. The climate of the region is warm and tropical with a rainy season from May to November along the coast and in the country’s northern regions. As Colombia is near the equator, so the temperature remains pretty stable throughout the year. The temperature difference is due to altitude; the higher mountains of Colombia are substantially cooler than the lowland coastal areas.

The coffee region, particularly the traditional town of Salento, Quindo, and its environs, is a famous tourist attraction. Because of its improved museums and entertainment facilities, as well as major urban renovations such as the rehabilitation of local areas, the development of parks, and the creation of an extensive network of cycling routes, Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, has recently become the country’s most popular tourist destination. Colombia has a lot of promise for ecotourism because of its diverse topography, like Amazon and Andean regions, the deserts and coasts like the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the Tatacoa Desert, as well as its distinctive biodiversity.

Responsible tourism has become a pressing need in Colombia since it reduces negative social, economic, and environmental consequences while also contributing to the preservation of natural and cultural assets. Cartagena and its ancient surrounds, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List; the island department of San Andrés, Santa Catalina; Santa Marta, and the surrounding area are all popular tourist destinations in Colombia.

Colombia Tourism Statistics

  1. In 2016, travel and tourism contributed $5,880.3 billion to GDP (2.0 percent of total GDP).
  2. In 2016, tourism supported 556,135 jobs (2.5 percent of total employment).
  3. The number of foreign tourists expected to visit increased from 0.6 million in 2007 to 4 million in 2017.
  4. Colombia’s tourism revenue in 2018 totaled $6,624,000,000.00, up 12.61 percent from 2017.
  5. Colombia received 1 million tourists in 2020, placing it 83rd in the world in terms of total visitors.
  6. When the tourist numbers are compared to Colombia’s population, the picture becomes much more comparable: Colombia was rated 161st in the world with 0.027 tourists per resident.
  7. It was ranked 11th in South America as a tourist destination.
  8. Colombia’s tourism industry alone brought in roughly 1.96 billion dollars yearly on average.
  9. This accounts for 0.72 percent of the country’s GDP and almost 18 percent of all foreign travelers’ receipts in South America.
  10. Tourism has overtaken the oil industry as Colombia’s principal services export, contributing 52 percent of the country’s foreign money.
  11. In 2018, the travel and tourism department contributed 2 million jobs in Colombia, including 19% new positions with a presence in 281 localities across the United States, according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics, Colombia.
  12. Colombia welcomed 4.3 million inbound tourists in 2018, an increase of 7.7% over 2017.
  13. Tourists from the United States, Venezuela, and Argentina accounted for around 80% of tourism spending in the first four months of 2019.
  14. In 2018, there were 23.3 million domestic trips, up 4.0 percent from 2017.
  15. More than 17 million domestic aviation passengers were registered between January and September 2019, an increase of 0.2 percent over the same period in 2018.
  16. Colombia’s tourism revenue in 2019 was $6,786,000,000.00, up 2.45% over the previous year, 2018.
  17. Tourism sales totaled $887.00 million in 1995, accounting for 0.96 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
  18. This equated to around 1.43 million tourists at the time or $619 for each person.
  19. The income has increased to 1.96 billion USD in the final year of the survey, contributing to 0.72 percent of the gross national product.
  20. In 2020, Avianca accounted for more than 40% of domestic passenger traffic in Colombia, with LATAM accounting for around 21%.
  21. Avianca’s fleet numbered 146 planes in the same year.
  22. Each traveler spends an average of $1,403 in Colombia for his vacation in recent years.
  23. In 2020, international tourism expenditures were estimated to be around 1.576 billion dollars.
  24. These figures show a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 5.658 USD billion.
  25. In 2020, the international tourism expenditures: Percentage of Total Imports data was recorded at 3.072% showing a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 8.642 percent.
  26. The data for passenger transport items was estimated to be worth 180.000 USD million in 2020 with a reduction of 723.000 USD mn from the previous year’s estimates.
  27. In 2020, the amount spent on travel items was estimated to be 1.396 billion dollars.
  28. This is a reduction of 4.935 billion dollars in 2019.
  29. In 2020, the number of people arriving was estimated to be 1,396,000,000.00 persons with a record decrease from the previous year’s (2019) figure of 4,531,000.000 people.
  30. The data on the number of arrivals is updated once a year, with an average of 1,898,500.000 People from December 1995 to December 2020, based on 26 observations.
  31. The figures ranged from a peak of 4,531,000,000 Persons in 2019 to a low of 661,000,000.00 Persons in 2002.
  32. In 2020, the number of departures was estimated to be 1,275,000.000 people having a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 4,479,000.000 people.
  33. Based on the annual international tourism report, the number of departures data is updated, with an average of 2,028,000.000 people departing from December 1995 to December 2020, based on 25 observations.
  34. In 2019, the data hit an all-time high of 4,479,000.000 Persons, surpassing the 1996 low of 929,000.000 Persons.
  35. In 2020, the overall receipts were estimated to be about 1.959 billion dollars.
  36. This shows a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 6.784 billion dollars.
  37. International tourism receipts data is updated monthly, with 26 observations averaging 2.493 USD billion from December 1995 to 2020.
  38. The data ranged from a high of 6.784 USD billion in 2019 to a low of 887.000 USD million in 1995.
  39. In 2020, the statistics for passenger transport items were reported at 364.000 USD mn a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 1.102 USD billion.
  40. Foreign tourism receipts for passenger transport items averaged 539.000 USD mn from December 1995 to 2020.
  41. The total records ranged from a peak of 1.208 USD billion in 2013 to a low of 230.000 USD million in 1995.
  42. Colombia’s tourism development in 2021 received 6.1 out of a potential seven index points in that year with the second-highest score for the Latin American country.
  43. However, in 2021, the country had a significant comeback, with a 20.5 percent increase in total tourists after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
  44. By 2022, the Colombian government aims to increase the contribution of accommodation and food services to GDP by 19 percent to COP 39.2 billion.
  45. It focuses to increase services exports in the passenger travel and transportation account from USD6.6 million to USD 8.2 million, increase the number of non-resident overnight visitors from 4.3 million to 6 million, and increase the number of passengers arriving from international cruises to 450,000 by the end of 2022.

References

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/COL/colombia/tourism-statistics#:~:text=Data%20are%20in%20current%20U.S.,a%205.34%25%20increase%20from%202016.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL?locations=CO

https://www.worlddata.info/america/colombia/tourism.php

https://www.statista.com/topics/7202/travel-and-tourism-in-colombia/

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/3d5684ef-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/3d5684ef-en

https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/33308/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Colombia

https://colombiareports.com/amp/colombia-tourism-statistics/

https://www.dnp.gov.co/DNPN/mision-internacionalizacion/Documents/English_Politics_Notes/Review_on_tourism_activity_in_Colombia.pdf

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/colombia/tourism-statistics