What is 'magical realism'? Colombia has the answer

Colombia, a destination relatively young in the world of tourism, is changing its official slogan following several years of drastically positive growth in the country’s visitation rates.

The Colombian Government Trade Commission and ProColombia invited a select number of travel advisors to learn more about changes being made to the country’s tourism strategies, along with presentations from partners Martour International and Avianca airlines.

“Colombia’s tourism has grown three-times faster than other destinations around the world,” Alvaro Concha, trade commissioner for ProColombia told PAX.  

Although the destination saw less than 500,000 visitors in 2003, those numbers have since grown to four million in 2014, achieving a goal that followed several years of persistent marketing.

“The country is always reinventing itself,” Concha said, going on to explain that once Colombia achieves an objective, the first thing its tourism sector does is determine a new goal to pursue.

In 2005, the country began investing in its tourism using campaign slogans such as “Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay," which addressed previously existing safety concerns surrounding tourism to the country and although originally deemed controversial, Concha said the campaign ultimately achieved global recognition for the country as a destination.

Ten years later, Colombia is moving forward beyond the element of risk, implementing two new campaign slogans, “The answer is Colombia” and “Colombia is magical realism”, in an effort to promote not only the place, but also the products it offers travellers.

“’Magical realism’ is more about promoting the experience,” Concha explained, “and how we want Colombia to be perceived, and seen. Part of the campaign is talking about the different [elements] Columbia has to offer. They seem magical, but they’re real, and they’re there to be explored.”

As such, ProColombia, kicked off its presentation with a seemingly obvious, but nonetheless endearing thought: that Colombia is not ‘staged’ for tourists. Lending to the fact that tourism is still a relatively new market for the country, its beaches are not built up in the same way travellers can expect to find in more established countries such as Mexico.

“It’s a new destination,” Concha said, “and it’s a destination that offers something new, exotic, and it hasn’t been explored as much as other destinations, so people are naturally curious about it.”

A country without seasons, Colombia’s unique climate gives it year-round weather akin to a Canadian summer. The resulting biodiversity means that travellers can visit jungles and deserts all in one trip, or drink two different fruit juices a day for a month, without ever repeating the flavours.

The country’s rapidly expanding tourism sector has also seen significant enhancement in its product offerings, which now include everything from ecotourism to health and wellness, religious tourism to cultural and archeological tourism, as well as gastronomic and adventure travel.

With so many options for would-be travellers to the country now available, Concha said that the next step for promoting the destination to Canada (which currently sits within the country’s top 10 tourism markets) is to go through its travel experts.

“The travel industry will be the ones telling our story,” he said. “Our goal is to increase awareness of our country and what it offers… and to educate agents on how they can sell Columbia as a destination. But, once we’ve gotten a visitor on the plane, Colombia does the rest.”

For more information, visit http://www.colombia.travel/en

PHOTO: Camilla Martinez, senior tourism specialist, ProColombia, Alvaro Concha, trade commissioner, ProColombia, Irina Vicente Rodriguez, account executive Canada, Avianca & Roberto Yanqui, general manager, Martour International