In 2017, the hotel occupancy rate in Colombia reached 56.3%, the highest percentage since 2004, according to the data provided by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). The occupancy rate last year exceeded the 55.7% with which it closed back in 2016.
“This performance is in line with the record of the number of foreign visitors (more than 6.5 million people) that arrived in 2017. The end of the conflict, the economic strength and the advances in infrastructure make us an increasingly attractive country,” said the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Lorena Gutiérrez.
“The hotel data of 2017 are a good indicator to visualize a more prosperous 2018 for tourism in Colombia. Together with the entrepreneurs, we will continue to work on the promotion of destinations, the formalization and training of new communities with a tourist vocation that, thanks to the post-conflict era, can now be accommodated to the travel industry,” added Gutiérrez.
For the month of December 2017, the hotel occupancy reached 53.8%, the highest percentage of the last 12 years for that month since 2004. According to the DANE, in December 2017 the actual revenue of the hotel sector presented a variation of 5.2%, and the employed staff of 0.8%. In the same month, back in 2016, the variations were -2.7% and 0.7%, respectively.
Last December, the main reason for visitors to travel to Colombia was leisure (with a 54.9% share), followed by business (35.1%), other reasons (5.2%) and conventions (4.8%).
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) reported that in 2017 the country achieved a record figure of 6.5 million visitors, which places it among the top five countries in America with the highest tourist influx from abroad. The 6,535,182 foreign visitors who arrived in the country in 2017 represent an increase of 28.3% compared to 2016, with the arrival of 5,093,052 visitors from abroad.
Between 2010 and 2017, the growth of foreign visitors was 150%, increasing from 2,610,690 to 6,535,182, respectively, according to data reported by MINCIT. “Among the factors that have influenced the achievement of these great results, we can highlight the new security conditions in the country, derived from the peace process with the FARC, as well as the advances in infrastructure and economic strength, which have improved international confidence, and reduced the ‘Country Risk’ index,” Minister Gutiérrez said.