Colombian streets are once again filled with foreigners, much to the delight of professionals in the tourism sector. According to French entrepreneurs based in Medellin, the crisis in Colombia due to the Covid-19 pandemic is over. They explain that the recovery has been visible since May 2021. Nearly 700,000 national and international tourists visited the economic capital of the country in 2021. The end of the year, with the Christmas holidays, is in full swing.
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Arthur Leroux is the owner of Poblado Guest House, a bed and breakfast in the Manila neighborhood of Medellin. Since August, the occupancy rate of his establishment, which welcomes 50 people a day, has been 99%. “I think telecommuting helps a lotbelieves Arthur Leroux. There are many people from the United States and Europe who come to work here taking advantage of the cost of living which is not the same. The attraction for Colombia, which was beginning to open up to international tourism before the crisis, is now benefiting from the arrival of people who want to get to know this country. Medellin is a very pleasant city to live in, especially to start a trip to South America or to take Spanish lessons.”
The observation is the same for the large hotel chains which confirm good occupancy rates. “First, the easing of certain restrictions due to Covid has allowed the reactivation of domestic tourism, explains Guillaume Janet, the marketing and communication director of the Masaya Experience chain, which has eight establishments in Colombia and Ecuador, including one in Medellin. Colombia has more than 50 million inhabitants and has a strong national tourist market. This enabled us to achieve occupancy rates close to 60% in the first half of 2021. From September, there was a significant influx of international travelers, particularly from the United States and Canada at first, and then from Europe, in particular from France, and also from Israel.
“Today we have had a stable occupancy rate for six months already, around 90%.”
Guillaume Janet, marketing and communication director of Masaya Experienceat franceinfo
So the hell of the pandemic is over, even if Colombia has not returned to its pre-Covid-19 tourist level. In 2019, the Andean country received 4.5 million foreign tourists but only 1.8 million in 2021. But regardless, the tourism sector in Colombia is recovering and foreigners continue to arrive.