MONTREAL — PROCOLOMBIA’s ‘Destination Colombia Roadshow 2025’, in town this week, showcased the extensive product offerings from close to 20 of Colombia’s top travel suppliers and other partners.
As Colombia’s commercial and tourism promotion agency, PROCOLOMBIA presented the roadshow, with visits to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Headlining the event was Colombia’s ambassador to Canada, Carlos Arturo Morales, who flew in from Ottawa for the occasion. PROCOLOMBIA Canada’s Juan Sebastian Sanchez Chica served as host.
AMAWATERWAYS’ MAGDALENA RIVER SAILINGS START MARCH 2025
Several new developments in Colombian tourism stood out for attendees, including AmaWaterways’ upcoming river cruises on the Magdalena River.
Following a delay announced last fall, AmaWaterways’ inaugural Colombia sailing is scheduled for March 2025 with a departure from Cartagena to Baranquilla. “This is a great thing for Colombia,” said PROCOLOMBIA’s Sanchez Chica, “because these cruises will allow visitors to explore many small villages that were previously hard to reach, and they will also offer new opportunities to develop isolated communities.”
Cartagena, Colombia
Several of the villages explored, in fact, are believed to have inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia’s most famous writer and Nobel laureate, for some of his works – starting with One Hundred Years of Solitude, recently revived with a Netflix series.
Also new, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts plans to open a hotel in Cartagena this year. “This will be the third Four Seasons establishment in Colombia, after those in Bogotá,” said Sanchez Chica.
Colombia is also continuing to promote regions like the Amazon and the Orinoco. “These areas are particularly promising for showcasing our desire to develop ecotourism, sustainable tourism, and community development,” added Sanchez Chica.
The island of San Andrés, reintroduced in Canada this year by Sunwing Vacations, is showing strong performance. “The island of Providence is doing better than ever,” said Sanchez Chica.
CANADIAN VISITS ON THE RISE
Last year, Colombia welcomed over 6.6 million international travellers, surpassing the previous record by 8.5% from 2023. That included 140,000 Canadians, with numbers still on the rise.
Cayo Cangrejo, Providence, San Andrés y Providence, Colombia
“What’s interesting is that, unlike other countries like the U.S., where most travellers belong to an ethnic clientele, travellers from Canada are 80 – 85% non-Colombian nationals, which shows the growing interest Canadians have for our country,” said Sanchez Chica.
The main drivers for Canadian travellers vacationing in Colombia? Nature adventures, culture and community tourism.
That said, the U.S., Mexico, Ecuador, Chile and Peru remain the main sources of international visitors to Colombia, with major cities like Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena and Cali ranking as the top destinations.
PROCOLOMBIA recently conducted an analysis of the latest data from ForwardKeys, a tourism consulting firm, on international flight bookings to Colombia from November 2024 – April 2025.
The result: More than 610,000 foreign passengers already have active bookings, a 7% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Of this number, the U.S., Spain, Chile and Canada represent over 40% of the bookings for the period December 2024 – May 2025.
Canada accounted for over 30,000 bookings to Colombia for this period, with more than a quarter of stays extending 14 to 21 nights. According to the study, during this same period (December 2024 – May 2025), bookings from Canada to Colombia exceeded those to competing countries like Peru and Chile.
Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena represented over 90% of international bookings made by passengers.
Also notable, from January – November 2024, Canada was the 12th largest market for non-resident arrivals in Colombia. The most visited Colombian cities by Canadian travellers were Bogotá (32,500 visitors), Cartagena (23,100), Medellín (19,500) and Cali (3,000).
Medellin, Colombia
By December 2024, Canada was connected to Colombia with 24 weekly flights, offering 5,000 seats per week, served by three main airlines: Air Canada, Avianca, and Air Transat (seasonal flights from November to April), along with Sunwing, which connects San Andrés to Montreal on a seasonal basis.
In addition, Arajet offers flights via the D.R., and Copa Airlines operates flights via Panama City. “Copa Airlines serves no fewer than 11 destinations in Colombia from Montreal,” said Loraine Antonio Cespédes, Copa Airlines’ sales director in Quebec.
Loraine Antonio Cespédes
With more than 90% of international travellers arriving by plane, the development of air transport is at the heart of Colombia’s tourism strategy. In December 2024, Colombia had 28 international airlines connecting 11 cities to 29 countries and 54 international cities, with over 1,500 weekly flights and more than 294,000 seats per week.
In 2024 alone, 26 new routes were announced, including the historic Emirates route connecting the U.S. to Bogotá, and Neos’ route connecting Italy to Colombia.
All these arrivals have not gone unnoticed by Colombia’s treasury. According to the Central Bank, more than US$9 billion in foreign exchange revenue was recorded through tourism, marking a 22.4% increase compared to 2022.
Between January and September 2024, $7.444 billion from passengers and travel was recorded, an increase of 14.1% compared to the same period in 2023.
MORE CRUISES FOR COLOMBIA
As AmaWaterways’ soon-to-debut Magdalena River cruises show, Colombia also attracts its fair share of cruise lines.
Year over year, looking at the 2022-2023 season versus 2023-2024, cruise arrivals in Colombia ticked up 3%. The total number of cruise passengers arriving on Colombia’s coasts reached 336,741.
Cartagena stands out as the most active destination, with 97% of the total cruise passenger arrivals. Santa Marta and San Andrés follow, with a 60% increase in cruise arrivals (to San Andrés) compared to the previous season.
Buenaventura welcomed its first cruise ship in fall 2023, with nearly 400 international passengers aboard the MS Hamburg, from Plantours Cruises. In January 2024, La Guajira received its first cruise ship, with 40 passengers disembarking at Cabo de la Vela.
Fishermen near Santa Marta, Colombia, with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance.
The following month, Explora Journeys’ Explora I spent the night docked at the port of Santa Marta, and Royal Caribbean recently opened bookings for seven-night cruises departing from Cartagena in 2025 and 2026.
This article originally appeared at ProfessionVoyages.com, part of The Travelweek Group
