Located in the heart of Latin America, Colombia benefits from a privileged location and offers excellent worldwide connectivity with more than 1,055 international flights serving 26 countries every week. Due to its geographical location, Colombia enjoys different types of weather in different cities throughout the country. Its biodiversity provides unique landscapes for an unforgettable event.
A wide range of venues is available from bastions and museums to gardens, squares and castles. In Cartagena, enjoy a themed dinner in an old plaza or the Fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, where you’ll experience what it was like during the golden age of piracy, treasures and marquises. In Bogota, a meeting inside the world’s largest gold museum will forge unforgettable memories.
Colombia is well served in alternative venues, with non-traditional destinations in Cartagena, Bogotá and Medellín available for the events industry. Salt Cathedral (the world’s only cathedral built inside a salt mine), the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden (Colombia’s biggest botanical garden) and the 16th-century San Felipe de Barajas Castle have inspirational meeting spaces to match their beautiful surroundings.
Between 2005 and 2015, the annual growth of tourism in Colombia was 12.7 per cent – almost three times the worldwide average growth of 3.9 per cent. And meeting tourism is strengthening, too. In the past eight years, Colombia has climbed seven places in the International Congress and Convention Association rankings, and is now the fourth-placed Latin American country for international meetings, following Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. There was a 10 per cent increase in the number of tourists to Colombia for events between 2010 and 2015.
Part of this success is down to the work ProColombia – the government agency for promoting international tourism, non-traditional exports and foreign direct investment – has done in promoting both the infrastructure to hold events and the capacity to host incentive trips. More than 20 convention centres, 414 hotels and venues with the capacity to host up to 10,000 people in a single space help make Colombia a world-class destination for events tourism.
And with sleek conference venues such as the 10,000-capacity G12 and Corferias – the country’s largest international business and exhibition centre with 22 halls and 3.7 acres of outdoor space – it’s little wonder Colombia is gaining popularity for those seeking an innovative destination for meetings.
A wide range of venues is available from bastions and museums to gardens, squares and castles
Cradled by the Andean peaks, Bogota is home to the government, large companies and prestigious universities. It attracts the majority of international travellers for events in Colombia; 62,244 visitors arrived between January and October 2016, with the majority from the United States, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.
Bogota’s eight convention centres have a capacity for approximately 20,000 people, and the capital has hosted prestigious events including the Rio+20 Summit and the 16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, while Cartagena has hosted the 6th Summit of the Americas.
Nestled on the Caribbean coast, Cartagena is one of Latin America’s most exquisite colonial cities, with three convention centres and 23 hotels. It has an abundance of history and culture, and is ideal for incentive trips, such as scuba diving and snorkelling off the island of Barú.
New destinations are also opening up in Colombia thanks to the recent signing of a peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrilla group. It is hoped the Amazonas area and Meta, a region capable of receiving international companies seeking nature and adventure tourism, will soon open up to visitors.
For more information please visit www.procolombia.co/en
