Colombia has seen an increase in UK visitors after the number of flights and hotels saw a boost.
Arrivals between 2012 and 2013 increased 13.9% to 27, 101 with the forecast on an upward trend.
The figure is also 54% higher than when Proexport Colombia started to market in the UK back in 2006, when UK visitor numbers were at 17, 560.
New Avianca flights from Heathrow to Bogota launched earlier this month while TAP Portugal added flights to the Colombian capital via Lisbon on 1 July.
In addition nearly 7,000 hotel rooms are under construction on top of the 15, 245 that opened between 2004 and 2012. Starwood, InterContinental Hotels Group, Radisson, Marriott and Iberostar are among the names developing hotels.
Juliana Torres, acting director in Proexport Colombia’s UK office, said: “With double-digit growth in UK visitor numbers in 2013, and an even bigger increase forecast for 2014 and 2015, it’s clear that UK visitors are falling in love with Colombia and our promotional campaigns such as Colombia is Magical Realism are really starting to bear fruit.
“It’s also heartening to see that UK travellers are becoming more adventurous, staying longer and looking beyond the major tourism centres such as Cartagena and Bogotá. This in turn is helping to fuel growth in centres such as Santa Marta and Medellín, as well as natural areas such as Tayrona National Park and the Amazon region around Leticia.”
The country is now on track to receive four million visitors by the end of this year, with more than half a million welcomed in the first quarter.
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