Tourism in Colombia
Colombia recorded a total of 2.16 million tourists in 2021, ranking 34th in the world in absolute terms.Without including the size of a country, such a ranking list may not be very meaningful. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Colombia, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.042 tourists per resident, Colombia ranked 99th in the world. In South America, it ranked 2nd.
In 2021, Colombia generated around 2.94 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.86 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 29 percent of all international tourism receipts in South America.
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Back to overview: Colombia
Development of the tourism sector in Colombia from 1995 to 2021
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Colombia each year. Until 2005, tourists were defined as anyone who spent at least one night in the country but did not live there for longer than 12 months. Since 2006, same-day-visitors from neighboring countries are also included. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 8 countries in South America. Please note the jump between 2005 and 2006, when the calculation method was changed to include day tourists. For the calculation of income and expenditure, this was already the case before.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 887.00 million USD, or about 0.96 percent of the gross national product. Within 26 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $6.78 billion billion, 2.1 percent of gross national product.In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $6.78 billion billion (2019), only $1.96 billion billion remained. This is a 71 percent decrease in Colombia.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2021 spent about 1,261 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Colombia spend only around 934 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
All data for Colombia in detail
| Year | Number | Receipts | % of GNP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2.16 m | 2.94 bn $ | 0.92 % |
| 2020 | 1.40 m | 1.96 bn $ | 0.73 % |
| 2019 | 4.53 m | 6.78 bn $ | 2.1 % |
| 2018 | 4.40 m | 6.66 bn $ | 2.0 % |
| 2017 | 4.06 m | 5.90 bn $ | 1.9 % |
| 2016 | 3.68 m | 5.63 bn $ | 2.0 % |
| 2015 | 3.37 m | 5.28 bn $ | 1.8 % |
| 2014 | 2.87 m | 4.94 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2013 | 2.60 m | 4.82 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2012 | 2.43 m | 4.41 bn $ | 1.2 % |
| 2011 | 2.36 m | 3.84 bn $ | 1.1 % |
| 2010 | 1.70 m | 3.47 bn $ | 1.2 % |
| 2009 | 2.65 m | 3.08 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2008 | 2.55 m | 2.97 bn $ | 1.2 % |
| 2007 | 2.38 m | 2.62 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2006 | 2.10 m | 2.37 bn $ | 1.5 % |
| 2005 | 933,000 | 1.89 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2004 | 791,000 | 1.54 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2003 | 625,000 | 1.19 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2002 | 567,000 | 1.24 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 2001 | 616,000 | 1.48 bn $ | 1.5 % |
| 2000 | 557,000 | 1.31 bn $ | 1.3 % |
| 1999 | 546,000 | 1.23 bn $ | 1.4 % |
| 1998 | 674,000 | 1.22 bn $ | 1.2 % |
| 1997 | 639,000 | 1.32 bn $ | 1.2 % |
| 1996 | 631,000 | 1.36 bn $ | 1.4 % |
| 1995 | 1.40 m | 887.00 m $ | 0.96 % |
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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