Cartagena and Medellín, the cities that attract the most MICE events

The return to presence has not only resulted in the return of people to offices and/or places of study, this dynamic has also opened a space in the business sector, making entrepreneurs and members of different industriesmeet again for pending congresses, fairs and conferences this new year free of restrictions after the arrival of covid-19.

(Read: ‘Decent work’, a central axis of the labor recovery).

In this return of the Mice sector to conference rooms, Colombia has played a leading role, registering fairly similar numbers of cEncouraging convention adoption vs. 2019.

According to the latest report by the National Bureaux Network, made up of 11 offices that have been working in coordination since 2020 to strengthen the meeting tourism industry and position these destinations as epicenter of corporate tourism, In the first half of the year, the industry shows an upturn in meetings.

“Faced with the reactivation of the meetings industry in the country, it has been presented in all the destinations that are part of the network, in an active and homogeneous way,” says the report.
However, in first place in capturing events is Cartagena with 33 events with businesses already closed, standing out for being one of the first to return to normal.

“The capital of Bolívar was the scene of two major industry congresses such as the ICCA 2021 World Cup and FIEXPO 2021, which has been called the “Welcome Back of the Industry”, highlights the document.

Laura María González, president of the Network of Convention & Visitors Bureaux of Colombia, highlighted the result of this return, since to date they have achieved to specify 94 events in the first semester that will be held in the coming years.

With this good dynamic, “it is estimated that these events generate an economic impact of approximately $46,000 million,” said González, president of the network.

According to the report, so far this year it has been identified that the health, sports, education and technology sectors lead the list of events carried out during the first semester. For example, its regional office in Cali reported that it received from January to June, more than 6,000 athletes attending international events such as the Women’s America Cup, the Bolivarian Games and the Under-20 Athletics World Cup.

(Also: The demand for programmers will grow by 65% ​​in the country).

Faced with the increase in the holding of events, the Bureaux have shared positive figures. In the case of Barranquilla and Atlántico, during the first semester 18 corporate events have been held, which have generated a flow of more than 13,400 tourists.

And it is that along this line is Bucaramanga, which during 2022 has held 20 events, which have generated an income of more than 20 thousand visitors.

In the Medellín region, in turn, it confirms that in the first six months of the year the number of events tripled compared to the first half of 2021.

This same dynamic was presented by Manizales, a representative uptake of events was reported, among which are: the Commercial Tour of Europe in Colombia, IX National Meeting of Community Tourism and Colombia Nature Travel Mart.

In relation to Santa Marta, there has been an increase in events, especially romance, such as: weddings, hand requests, among others.

Similarly, in Quindío, as part of its promotion and positioning strategy in Romance Tourism, they managed to host the International Convention “Forever Wedding Summit 2022” in October, where it is expected to receive around 300 entrepreneurs from this production chain.

Around the second semester, the Bogotá and Pereira regions confirmed that the greater number of events captured from the network.

For its part, Ibagué reported that there is a growing interest in holding sporting, cultural and institutional events this year.

(See: Providencia Airport would be ready in December).

“Without a doubt, this has been a year of activation in different economic sectors and meeting tourism has been one of them. From the Network we continue to focus on new deposits and to be able to close 2022 exceeding the stipulated goals”, concludes Laura María González Naranjo, who has a good outlook for the industry for 2022 and 2023.

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