QCOLOMBIA – The end of the year travel season arrived with important expectations of recovery for the tourism sector. The improvement in the tourist infrastructure, support from the National Government and the adoption of prevention measures against Covid-19, have gradually helped the country to mitigate the impact of the current situation.
“Thanks to this, added to the reopening of routes and the entry into operation of new ones, a gradual reactivation has also been achieved in the national and international air connection of Colombia, which has also provided a greater number of alternatives to passengers and revitalization of tourism,” said Paula Cortés Calle, executive president of Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism (ANATO).
According to ANATO calculations, based on Civil Aeronautics data, if December 2020 is taken into account, compared to the same month in 2019, the reactivation percentage corresponded to 56% in passenger traffic on domestic flights, and 35% in passenger traffic on international flights. Which in total, is summarized in a 49% reactivation of passenger traffic on flights during December.
Likewise, during the first month of 2021, this positive trend continued, taking into account that, between January 1 and 11, 64% have been reactivated of passenger traffic on domestic flights when compared to the same period in 2020; and 39% in traffic on international flights, which is equivalent to a total of 55%.
This represents the movement of approximately 527,000 passengers on domestic flights and about 167,000 passengers on international flights. Registering a growth of 12% for passenger traffic on domestic flights, and 19% for the case of passengers on international flights, this comparing the first 11 days of January against the same period of December.
To maintain this positive recovery path, it is key not to return to travel restrictions but to prioritize biosecurity and self-care measures that help build trust in all actors in the tourism chain. In the same way, the Association has stated that it will continue to pay attention to the different conditions of PCR tests at the entrance of the countries, to know the real impact that will occur in the travel industry.
