¿Qué está pasando con el turismo en Colombia?

0:06 I' m Roberto Pombo. Welcome to my questions. An average rush program sponsored by CAFAM family compensation box. Colombia has a wide variety of tourist destinations for its own and foreigners. The figures show that they have improved over the past year, but still do not reach pre- Pandemic figures. Tourism can replace the currencies generated by oil exploitation, what side effects massive tourism could have in the country. For this chapter we spoke with FE Development President Luis Fernando Mejía Gonstala García and San Andrés Islas Tourism Secretariat, with Councillor Juan Daniel Oviedo, with Sandra Viviana Giraldo, former Assistant Secretary of Tourism of Medellín, with the Representative to the Chamber, Daniel Carvarro and with the former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María ca Usas of the daily life. I am Roberto Pombo and this is chapter ninety- three of my questions. Welcome.

1:08 If there is a sign that one has reached a certain age it is that each time he begins to use more sayings to encapsulate ideas, and one of the ones I use most lately is this one that says neither so much that he burns the saint nor that he does not light it of this phrase. There' s a more scientific version the Swiss doctor said for Celsus. Everything is poison and nothing is poison, only the dose to poison in the case of your appointment. Its literal version is more applicable, especially in toxicology, and is that almost any substance can be toxic if ingested in excess, even those that are elementary to life on earth, such as water or oxygen.

1:53 For example, everyone, from health professionals, athletes, coaches, etcetera, I do not recommend, tend to keep them hydrated and drink water. However, even drinking a lot of water can be harmful. There is no exact measure. It depends on age, weight, physical activity and even room temperature. But when we take excess water we can experience what is known as hyperhydration or water poisoning that causes poisoning or an alteration in brain function. But you do well to what I was going to do was that, like everything said, its meaning extends beyond the literal and specifically in times when polarization seems to lead all discussion to the extremes. These phrases become more relevant to me than ever before, and I am referring especially to the desire to make Colombia a massive tourist destination. Since his possession, President Petru has made clear his idea that tourism is the activity that replaces mining and hydrocarbon exploitation as the main source of dollars. We want to replace the currencies that enter Colombia with carbon and oil by tourism. Colombia has an opportunity there, in the short term, in tourism. Tourism, as if it were a chemical, has its doses to make it a valuable or intoxicating activity in Colombia. For now, tourism

3:23 figures are positive and show that it is benefiting and that it has the potential to do so even more. According to data from the Colombian Association of Travel Agencies and Anato Tourism last year, tourism contributed two or three percent of the national aggregate value of gross domestic product, according to the World Economic Forum' s most recent competitiveness index in travel and tourism. In three hundred and nineteen economies analyzed. In two thousand twenty- three, Colombia ranked fifty, which means that it rose six places compared to the place it held in that same report in two thousand nineteen. In the first quarter of this year, foreign currency inflows from tourism grew by 19 percent. Two hundred and thirty- six million dollars To finish the country' s tourism revenues represented sixty percent of the total exports of services, which has made national tourism have a good time, according to the competitiveness index in travel and tourism of the World Cornico Forum that I already mentioned. Competitive prisoners and natural resources and cultural resources are among the most favourable pillars of the country, and positive figures continue, according to the Bank of the Republic. At the close of two thousand twenty- three, the country had a record income of nine billion dollars for air transport of passengers and travel. This means that it grew twenty- two commas four percent compared

4:56 to the previous year. Last year, the arrival of cruisers and tourists on these ships also grew significantly. In total, three hundred and forty- five thousand, two hundred and eighty- five visitors to the country arrived through this medium, a hundred and six percent more compared to two thousand and twenty- two. In January of this year alone, almost 80, 000 cross- borderers have arrived in the country, a growth of eleven commas four percent. Gaído also to the country in this sense that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism has published that Cartagena will be the seat of the version one hundred twenty- two of the Executive Council of Ono Tourism in October of this year.

5:38 But, despite all these positive figures, this item still does not reach the contribution that had been recorded to the pip before the pandemic when it was the two comma six percent the contribution of oil to GDP, according to Dani it is the ten comma eight percent, that is about five times more than tourism. Andrés Camacho Murillo is a research professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad Externado and told Revista Cambio that it would take a growth of twenty percent annually and about twenty years for this activity to achieve what it contributes today ecopetrols the coffers of the country. I do not need to be left with the doubt, so I sought the President of Development, Luis Fernando Mejía, to deepen the matter. What it takes for tourism to replace the contribution of oil to the PIP This told me for tourism to replace oil as a source of foreign exchange generation. A long- term strategic plan is required, not a government policy, but a State policy, with a strategic plan that can strengthen the sector in various dimensions, such as the infrastructure dimension, where Colombia must further strengthen the offer of available beds and, in addition, complement this offer with other complementary tourist services. Culture, gastronomy, sport and also recreational parks can be part of this strategy. The human capital of the tourism sector must also be strengthened through bilingualism in particular. It is essential that the people

7:13 of the sector have the ability to act in a decisive way in the Spanish language and also in English, which was the universal language for any foreign tourist. The security component, especially in rural areas, must be strengthened in order to develop the potential of sustainable tourism. Colombia has enormous capacities in its tourism sector to be developed. This then requires a strategic plan with very concrete and timely goals to reach levels of tourists such as those with countries in similar sizes, such as Peru, or even larger countries like Colombia, such as Mexico, which is one of the most visited countries by tourists worldwide. Colombia has these capacities, but it must develop them through a strategic plan and this ratification requires a State policy. I asked myself the same question to the Exminist of industry and tourism Maracaudia la cotil and this told me Colombia definitely has everything for tourism to be and to have greater preponderance in the country. For the long, we need four points. First, determination, clearly and conclusively establish what, how, when and where tourism can be developed in Colombia. The lack of clarity limits large investments and tourism development bets are required by regional blocks through PPP to achieve it. Second, security. The greatest challenge of tourism is both physical and legal security. The perception of insecurity fuelled by press headlines and news about negative tourism experiences or incidents of violence in tourist destinations discourages travellers.

8:46 Addressing this problem is fundamental to strengthening the country' s tourism. Third, sharing informality to ensure quality services and fair competition, as well as improving tourism infrastructure to minimize environmental impact. To be understood as a balance between social, economic and environmental aspects. And finally, give the importance that tourism deserves. Important is the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Tourism that focuses exclusively on addressing the challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities for the country. And if the figures for the tourism of the country allow to be optimistic, it seems that the Archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia is the good exception. Gentlemen, I ' m going to make this video for you to see a direct flight to San Andres and look at them the amount said of that occupies look a little bit of people who go nothing more here, not even fifty passengers. Here ' s André. The audio you just heard is from a video posted on social media of a man on a flight from Bogotá, San Andrés, which is almost empty. The video was published during the first Holiday Bridge in June, when it is usual for flights and hotels to this destination to be full.

10:03 But this problem has come since Easter. The Hotel and Tourist Association of Colombia COTELCO took stock of the arrival of travelers on the island. In March it was less than thirty percent, when in March of two thousand twenty- two it was almost seventy- one percent. In fact, this association called it the worst week in the last twenty years. According to Cambio magazine, Julio García, part of the Board of Directors of Cotelco, chapter San Andrés and owner of the Puerto Fino hotel, said that San Andrés went from an average occupation of eighty percent all year to having less thirty- five percent.

10:43 Jennifer Jeps, president of the Chamber of Commerce chapter San Andrés, pointed out to the magazine Portfolio some possible causes of these crises that the archipelago lives. The first is the already mentioned low air offer. The second is that there are other emerging destinations that became direct competition, such as Hereje, Cafetero, Coveña, Santa Marta, Cartagena, places that can be reached in other ways that is not air only and that expands the tourist offer. The third reason is the price of tickets, and it is that a ticket to go to that beautiful national destination costs the same or more than going to an international destination like Arubo. This situation, on an island that was recently hit by a hurricane and where 90 percent depend on tourism, is a real alarm. How can you improve the number of tourists to San Andrés. I asked Sara García, former Secretary of Tourism of San Andrés, and to this I answered well, because this is a job that has to be very articulated between the public sector and the private sector, because the hotel sector, of restaurants travel agencies has made a very important investment in the island. In recent years there are new infrastructure of high level, of excellent service. Then we have been working very hard from the hotel sector, from the tourism business sector. But let ' s also say the government has to look at how that part that affects the arrival of tourists, which is the rates, how it is approached from

12:16 the national government, because they have to see that for a couple of years, with the departure of low- cost airlines, the arrival of tourists was affected. We went from having about forty flights per day to the destination and currently to about nineteen, twenty flights maximum. Then, on this side, the destination is greatly affected by the decrease in flights. Currently the rates are very high, as people are interested in going to the island. But when you look at the passages, the tickets, because they are very high, are cheaper to go abroad. And because the local government has to see how it also addresses the issue of tax or income card that in the amount of being a family group, because it always has quite a impact. Then how to either reduce your cost or set up a strategy, which the Governor has mentioned, suddenly make a payment for this card and which can be used on several occasions. But just for a moment. Suppose Colombia suits its tourist destinations, that there are enough flights, infrastructure, education, roads, etc.

13:26 Let us think that the country manages to attract the number of tourists required to obtain the same income as oil exports opened up an adverse side b. The effects of mass tourism have been visible for several years in the world, especially in such popular destinations as Paris, Venice or Barcelona. Negative impacts range from economic, social, to environmental problems. For example, every year the magazine Fodor Strauble publishes a list not in which it includes destinations not to visit. This year' s version focuses on three main areas of tourism impact. Excessive tourism, waste production and the quality and adequacy of water, which not only harm the destinations themselves, but also the local communities that depend on them.

14:18 In the most recent edition it includes cities like Venice, of which it highlights that it has been a city worried about not being swallowed up by water and now agonized for drowning in tourists Athens, which lives a similar problem about tourism the Halon Bay in Vietnam, because tourist and boat activities, along with growing fishing communities, are creating a problem of water pollution. The Atacama Desert in Chile, with the problem of textile garbage it presents, which is so great that satellites have detected it from space, also do not recommend going to tourism to the Ganges River, the most important in India, because it is experiencing problems of flow, reduced, floating pollution and the threat of its dolphins of ribo, problems that have been exacerbated by a new industry of luxury cruises by the river and, among others, Fuji, in Japan, a city that had to block the view of the famous Mount Fuji because the about tourism and the number of people taking photos of this mountain have caused road problems in the city and, as well as Fuji, many authorities of countries and tourist cities have had to start regulating tourism or the same venecia that has taken measures such as charging an entrance fee of five euros in high season and holiday ideas, establishing a maximum number of visitors per day and restricting entry from this summer to guided groups of tourists of more than twenty- five people and the use of

15:48 speakers and speakers in public space. But in Colombia we have also felt the impact of tourism in several cities and perhaps one of the clearest NS s is that of Medellin. It was fun the capital of Antioquia has for several years become a rather attractive destination between the boom of the city as capital of the reggaeton, the climate, the kindness of its people, the diverse cultural offer and, in addition to being headquarters for virtual nomads, the reasons to visit the works. In two thousand twenty- two, according to data from the mayor' s office, he achieved figures of historical tourists, received more than one million four hundred thousand visitors and exceeded one million two hundred thousand that was projected. However, that boom has caused several problems for the city, and one is gentrification, which is nothing more than a phenomenon in which the urban sectors, generally popular, experience an increase in the cost of living driven by the arrival of residents with more money. This has become a problem because many people who lived in neighborhoods like Laureles or in the neighboring municipality of envigado have had to leave because the leases have risen significantly. There are neighborhoods in which the increase has been of eighty- one percent and have gone up by what is known as short- term or short- distance rentals, that is, that apartment owners prefer to rent the tourists for a shorter period and for more

17:22 money than a local person for the hostel tourism management school. Today it is known that tourism gentrification involves much more than a simple displacement of residents and even in many cases, tourism and gentrification participate in a vicious circle in which the success of one depends directly on the effect of the other. Already cities such as Barcelona, Florence, Paris and Amsterdam have regulated this type of rent through platforms such as the bean b The representative of the House by Antioquia, Daniel Carvallo, has shown concern about this issue. Last year he wrote a column in the newspaper El Colombiano in which he invites the district to participate more in the regulation of the real estate business so that tourism continues to arrive, but it does not become a decent housing problem for the locals. I looked for Representative Carvaro and asked him what measures should be taken to prevent gentrification in Medellín and other tourist cities in the country. This he told me about the phenomenon of gentrification. The most affected cities, such as Medellin, must make progress in at least three aspects. First of all, there must be an update of all the regulations relating to short- term rents and, above all, the creation of specialized bodies to ensure that these rules are complied with, not only with regard to leases themselves, but also with all the possible effects that different cities are experiencing with the massive arrival of tourists. I prefer, for

18:56 example, phenomena such as excessive scrolling or sexual exploitation of minors. In addition, cities like main have to urgently undertake massive housing construction programmes, but this is the only way we have to really control the accelerated price increase. Finally, cities need to be equipped with management tools and public policies for tourism. Today we feel that tourism in cities such as Melgin arrived in an overflowing, unplanned way, and we do not have enough information, we do not have enough diagnosis and therefore we do not have how to respond with appropriate public policies.

19:37 Sadly, gentrification is not the only problem that has arisen or at least, it has recorded with tourism. Sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is one such problem. This became more notorious a few months ago, when the horrible news of U S citizen Timut and Aland Liminson, reported of sexual exploitation of minors in Medellín, came out. Living Stone was caught in a room at the Brotan Hotel in the village sector of Medellin and company of two minors aged twelve and thirteen. Despite this, the American citizen was not arrested and left the country. It is currently wanted by the authorities, but this news is only the most recent and visible chapter of a much larger problem. There are no clear figures on this crime due to a problem of under- reporting, but according to data provided by the Mayor of Medellín, between January and November two thousand twenty- two hundred and fifty- seven minors were treated after being victims of sexual abuse It is a scandalous problem that is in everyone' s sight. It is enough to go through public spaces like Lleras Park, to meet minors being exploited sadly. The stories of mothers and fathers who sexually hand over their children to foreigners for dollars abound and this is not the only city where this happens. Recently, the country' s newspaper published a report on the sexual exploitation of impoverished children in Cartagena, Colombia' s tourist capital,

21:11 in which it tells how poverty has led entire families to exploit their sons and daughters because it is the only possible livelihood and foreign tourists can pay the best. How to combat child abuse effectively in tourist cities. I asked Sandra Viviana Giraldo, former Undersecretary of Tourism of Medellin, and this one answered me. We could begin by mentioning that the crimes related to the sexual exploitation of our children and adolescents in the country have increased in the last ten years. While social networks and the ease that technology has brought for our communication bring great benefits, it has also brought immense challenges. According to the Attorney General' s Office, between January and August of the two thousand twenty- three, the country had more than 8, 000 cases of sexual crimes against minors. The vast majority on the part of foreigners from countries like the United States, Panama and Mexico, the perpetrators, because they are not tourists are criminals. They get the information of minors through social networks and even Whatsapp in the form of salmada, receive photos and videos of them, quote prices as if they were merchandise and organize meeting points and times to fight this erect. We have to meet him. It works through networks, close friends and relatives of minors and even people in their close trusted circles, often with the satisfaction of their relatives and relatives. How to combat it through different angles preventative, for example, by the hands of the police for children, adolescents and the national government with

22:45 policies with a territorial focus that contain permanent controls, accommodations and hotels regulation of short- stay accommodation, articulated work with the private sector, with hotels, hostels, restaurants and bars, campaigns, p pres mention, as Medellin is doing, and incentives to denounce, and let us not forget the punitive angle, where the government should prioritize legislative transformations so that the punishment is not only aimed at the people who are part of the networks, but also at the parents and relatives, who are accomplices of this crime. What can we do then to encourage tourism without falling into these problems. There are international experiences, even in the country, that can help us to have more revenue from tourism, avoiding the problems I mentioned earlier. Costa Rica is perhaps the clearest and closest example in sustainable tourism in the world. For example, hosting more than six or five percent of global biodiversity has made it an attractive destination for nature lovers. It has twenty- six percent of protected areas in fifty- four percent of its forest territory, which promotes conservation. There are many similarities between the two countries, such as natural disasters and ecotourism, and focusing tourism on these types of destinations could work for the Colombian case. Ecuador is another country that has been able to take advantage of its landscapes and natural regions Yunguilla is a community just over eighty kilometers from Quito, on the slopes of the Andean

24:17 cloud forest, which has become a success case of community tourism. In that country. This region was recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve, a planet lung and a site of high biodiversity. And there are also several cases of sustainable community tourism in Colombia. This month UN Tourism presented to the twenty- two finalist initiatives of the Innovation Challenge in Community Tourism, in which they received more than five hundred and seventy applications from entrepreneurs, tourism guides and non- profit organizations, community- based organizations, formal companies and, in fact, the tourism plan presented by the national government last year increased by eighty- seven.

24:57 Indeed, the budget envisages bringing five or four million visitors and strengthening the inclusion and participation of communities and territories in the country' s tourism development. All this sounds very good, but how much can community tourism contribute to improving the figures for this item in the country? I moved the question to the Bogotá councillor and former DANI director, Juan Daniel Oviedo, and this was his answer. When it comes to addressing the role of community tourism in accelerating the country' s tourism development, where some elements are taken into account. First, the tourism sector weighed the two point one percent of the domestic product cry of the Colombian economy in two thousand twenty- three, unable to recover levels prior to the pandemic when it began approximately two point six percent. On the other hand, the casto in tourism in Colombia reached sixty- eight points, four trillion pesos in two thousand twenty- three, of which almost three quarters correspond to international travelers with a determining component of air travel expenses. Thirdly, when we want to analyse the capacity of tourism development in the regions, we must recognize a very important limitation, which is access to safe drinking water in the rural area of the country. Data from the Multidimensional Poverty Index show that one in three rural households in the country does not have access to safe drinking water. And, therefore, the possibility that this community tourism with a rural

26:32 vocation is a champion of the country' s tourism development, which is also desired by the Government of President Gustavo Petro, to replace the revenues from hydrocarbon exports is quite remote. This does not mean that there is no possibility of strengthening community tourism, but we cannot place all bets on this tourism model to ensure that Colombia, by tandale its ability to generate income and jobs from the tourist offer of our country. Undoubtedly, Colombia and all its regions are quite attractive tourist destinations, not only for foreigners, but for their own. Figures have shown that the trend is for more and more people to visit beaches, mountains, rivers, museums and cities in the country. And so, beyond the necessary investment in infrastructure for demand to respond to supply, we also need rules that allow us to avoid future problems that other cities in the region already have and that even today live their own, such as sexual exploitation or gentrification.

27:45 Security is the very first requirement for the country to make the leap it requires in this area. So the dose of tourism is in time to adjust so that the candle does not burn the saint, but that it is not so little that it does not shine. I am Roberto Pombo and this was chapter ninety- three of my questions. See you in the next chapter from now on. This chapter of my questions is available on all podcast platforms. This episode was made possible thanks to Kafán, family compensation box, Roberto Pombo Directorate, General Production Juan Abel Gutiérrez. Editorial advisor Daniel San Pedro Espina, screenplays Juan Abel Gutiérrez and Johnny Rodríguez. Field production Marcela Salazar and Lucía Beltrán.

28:33 Post- production of audio Carlos Bernal