By Daniel Salazar Castellanos
Amid the blow received by the domestic air market, especially destinations such as San Andres, due to the crisis generated by Viva and Ultra Air, more Colombians are traveling abroad, according to figures from the Colombian Association of Travel Agencies and Tourism (Anato).
Anato’s report shows that in the first quarter of this year, 1,188,258 Colombians left the country, an increase of 12% over the same period in 2022, according to figures from Migración Colombia and Anato.
During the first quarter, the main travel destinations for tourism, events, and business purposes were the United States, Mexico, Spain, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
These markets together accounted for 70% of the flow of Colombian travelers abroad.
These markets were followed by South American destinations such as Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina.
The result obtained in 2022 “was 2.7 times the average number of nationals who emigrated each year since 2012 (just under 200,000 Colombians per year).”
“This is noteworthy since Venezuela entered the top 10 to surpass Argentina,” Anato pointed out.
“After the decreases brought by domestic tourism, these indexes compensate and contribute to the recovery of sales of businessmen affected by the recent air situation.”
“Likewise, it was favorable for outbound tourism that the dollar price during the first quarter was lower compared to the close of the previous year,” explained Paula Cortés Calle, executive president of Anato.
Cortés Calle stated, “It is important to strengthen the work done by the Foreign Ministry in eliminating visas for Colombians.”
“An example of a success story has been the United Kingdom which, after eliminating this requirement in the second half of 2022, achieved a growth of 452% for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year,” she said.
547,000 Colombians emigrated from the country last year, breaking historical records from the end of the 20th century and the beginning of this one when the financial crisis and violence dragged thousands of people to leave Colombia, according to figures from the Conflict Analysis Resource Center (Cerac).
The result obtained in 2022 “was 2.7 times the average number of nationals who emigrated each year since 2012 (just under 200,000 Colombians per year).”
According to Cerac’s analysis, the main countries to which Colombians emigrate are the United States, Chile, and Mexico.
The levels of migration of Colombians abroad registered a rate of 11 nationals per 1,000 inhabitants in 2022, surpassing even the numbers of the financial crisis at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the current one.
With information from Bloomberg