Hotel occupancy in Colombia to reach 55% in 2022, a figure close to the historic pre-pandemic peak -Cotelco

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The highest hotel occupancy rates in Colombia in 2021 were recorded by San Andrés with 74.72%, Tolima and Upper Magdalena with 74.72%, Cartagena with 69.53%, Magdalena with 68.71%, Antioquia with 63.25%, and Boyacá with 60.89%.

This is according to a report prepared by Melisa Murialdo, auditor and analyst in the Latam region of Redacción EMT, as part of a review of the hotel sector in 2021 and tourism forecasts for hotels in Colombia in 2022.

According to the report, hotel occupancy in 2019 was 57%, up 1.5% from 2018. This is the highest figure in the country’s history. According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), hotel occupancy between January and December 2020 was 29.9%.

Cotelco (Hotel and Tourism Association of Colombia) indicates 21%. In both cases, occupancy does not reach 30% across the country in the year of the pandemic outbreak.

Cotelco forecasts a nationwide hotel occupancy rate of 40.9% in 2021 and estimates it could reach 55% by 2022, a figure close to the historic pre-pandemic peak.

October was the best month of 2021 for tourism.

According to DANE’s monthly lodging survey, the occupancy rate in October 2021 was 51.6%, higher than in October 2020, when it was 25.8%, the highest value of the year (according to the information available so far) and even 2% higher than before the pandemic.

In Bogotá, the occupancy rate in October was 47.2%, higher than the previous month’s value of 42.6%.

The highest occupancy rates for the month in question were recorded in the following regions:

San Andrés 72.3%.
Cartagena 65.1%.
Caribbean 60.9%.

In contrast, the Pacific region, including Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, and Chocó, registered the lowest rate, 39.6%.

At the national level, registered employment between January and October 2021 was 37.8%, while in the same period of 2020, it did not even reach 30% (29.4%).

San Andres, Cartagena, and the Caribbean also accounted for the highest occupancy rates in Colombia in the January-October 2021 period.

San Andres 60.6%.
Cartagena 47.3%.
Caribbean 43.5%.

Source: Hotel Information System – SIH by Cotelco.

National destinations with the highest occupancy rates – October 2021.

San Andres 74.72%.
Tolima and Alto Magdalena 74.72%.
Cartagena 69.53% Magdalena 68.71
Magdalena 68.71% Antioquia
Antioquia 63.25%.

Source: Hotel Information System – SIH by Cotelco.

By the end of 2021, 40,000 of the jobs lost in the sector will have been recovered, representing 64% of the employment.

The future of tourism seems to be firmly anchored in Colombia, as investments from home and abroad are beginning to bear fruit, the vaccination campaign, the easing of restrictions, and the need to use savings and take out loans for travel are filling hotels and the new summer season is in full swing.

The 2021 figures would represent a recovery of more than 20% from the lowest figure ever recorded in the country (since records began in 1988), and by 2022 could reach the highest figure known to date, recorded in 2019.

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