As challenging as 2020 was for the sector, Colombia closed the year with a 75% of air frequencies reestablished connecting the main gates of the US with 7 cities in Colombia through American Airlines, Avianca, Delta, JetBlue, Latam Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Viva Air and United Airlines.

Another notable fact is the remarkable number of recognitions that the country was awarded with during 2020 and counting now in 2021 such as:

• The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) chose Colombia as a 2020 top destination.
• The New York Times included Colombia in the list of 52 countries to love in 2021.
• Lonely Planet included Medellín in the 2021 Best in Travel list in the category of community revitalization.
• Colombia won 9 awards at the South American version of the World Travel Awards 2020. In these awards the country won as South America's Leading Culinary Destination and as South America's Leading LGBT Destination and ProColombia as South America's Leading Tourist Board. In addition, six cities were recognized by the same awards in several categories: Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín and San Andrés.
• Conde Nast Traveler ranked Colombia among the Top 20 worldwide destinations along with other countries such as Turkey, Greece, Portugal, and Italy.
• Colombia.travel also won the Webby People's Choice Awards as the best tourism website in the world.

“The Colombian Government has defined tourism as ‘Colombia´s new petroleum’. Therefore, at ProColombia we promote Colombia as a safe, reliable, sustainable, and high-quality destination. . Our Colombia USA Tourism Business Forum 2021 is a great opportunity to display the great diversity of our tourism offer ”, Said Flavia Santoro, President of ProColombia.

The three-day virtual event also features academic forums with fascinating panel discussions and business meetings that seek to present the Colombian tourism offer.

The first panel is titled: Flying to Colombia -A journey to the country. It is focused on the importance of connectivity featuring Stephane Marcoux, Director of Marketing Aviation of OPAIN, Ricardo Garnica, Sales Manager for Colombia at Delta Air Lines; Sid Raghuraman, Senior Analyst - International Network Planning at American Airlines and Nick Bartolotta Director, Network Planning at Spirit Airlines.

It’s important to highlight that the Colombian Government has created the Tourism Biosecurity Certification: “Certified Check-In COVID - 19 biosafe”, with the support of both, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Colombia is officially the first country in Latin America with this type of certification.

The second panel tackles Global perspectives of the Meetings industry. Featuring: Natasha Richards, Senior Advocacy & Industry Relations Manager, IMEX Group; Eduardo Chaillo, CEO of GMTS; Bruce MacMillan, Chief Marketing Officer at PCMA and Pádraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer at SITE.

The third one is a Leisure Tourism Panel: The power of the Travel Industry to influence the consumer’s behavior. Moderated by Jim Brody, Managing Director of Destinations at Lonely Planet. Featuring: Bruce Poon Tip, CEO of G-Adventures; Terry Dale, President & CEO of USTOA and Lisa Lutoff Perlo, CEO of Celebrity Cruises.

Colombia certainly has the potential to become a regional leader in sustainable tourism. The country has an amazing natural wealth ranked as the second most biodiverse country in the world. Moreover, it features a wide and diverse culture, as it´s known as the country of the 1.000 rhythms.

To get more information and to participate in these panels, please register as an observer at https://www.colombia-usatourismforum2021.com/