In 2023, tourism contributed 2.3% of the national added value, explained mainly by the consumption of air transportation services that represented 70.3% of the total and followed by accommodation and food and beverage supply services that participated with 26.2%, which, for the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies, Anato, reflects that the travel industry has always been related to the behavior and stability of the economy.
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Although this result is better than the one obtained in 2022, since it is 0.1 percentage points higher, they say that it did not reach the indicator that was being recorded in the pre-pandemic era, that is, 2.6%.
According to the Tourism Satellite Account (CST) of 2023 of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane), inbound tourism spending went from 44.6 billion pesos in 2022 to 50.8 billion pesos in 2023, which represented a growth of 13.8% and was 74% of the total expenditure on tourism, while the The remaining 26% was from the domestic segment with 17.7 trillion pesos, which represented a growth of 10.9% compared to 2022.
This large gap in participation is mainly explained by the number of nights spent by tourists, since while the international traveler stayed an average of 17 nights, the domestic traveler only stayed four nights.
By type of expense, In the case of incoming tourism, for the last year it was mainly related to the purchase of air transport services of passengers with 13.2 billion pesos, followed by food and beverage provision services with 11.6 billion pesos and accommodation services for visitors with 8.9 billion pesos. For its part, for 2022, inbound tourism spending showed a growth of 75.1% compared to 2021, going from 25.5 billion pesos to 44.6 billion pesos.
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“In 2023, tourist flows showed a growth of 21.2%, going from 3.2 million people in 2022 to 3.9 million people in 2023. While for 2022, the tourist flow showed a growth of 106%. with respect to 2021”, Dane points out.
And in the domestic sector, it was mainly associated with food and beverage provision services. with 5.9 trillion pesos, followed by other services with 2.4 trillion pesos, and consumer goods with 2.2 trillion pesos. For its part, domestic tourism trips showed a growth of 8.9% by 2023, going from 43.6 million in 2022p to 47.4 million in 2023. It must be remembered that the increase in these was driven mainly by the return of 19% VAT on tourist products.
Besides, “The flows of people from outbound tourism for 2023pr grew 4.8% compared to the immediately previous year, going from 3.2 million people in 2022p to 3.3 million in the last year. For its part, for 2022p the flows of people showed a growth of 45.7% compared to 2021”, Dane explains.
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“It is important to continue working on the development of tourism so that it has an increasingly greater impact, since in 2023, it will employ more than 873 thousand people. “It depends on our public-private work that actions are implemented and better conditions are established that generate more opportunities for employment, entrepreneurs, and with it, for travelers,” said Paula Cortés Calle, executive president of Anato.
And I add: “We believe that the results for this year can be positive for tourism in Colombia, since we have all the potential to make this happen, but greater investment is essential to improve the conditions of the sector for visitors.”
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Portfolio Journalist
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