Tourism direct GVA (2024) | Tourism direct employment (2024) | Travel exports (2024) |
|---|---|---|
2.2% of total GVA (equal to level in 2023) | 3.9% of total employment (up 0.3 percentage points since 2023) | 48.1% of total service exports (up 0.9 percentage points since 2023) |
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026
National tourism strategy: Sectoral Tourism Plan 2022-2026: “Turismo en armonía con la vida”
Responsible government Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism
National tourism budget: USD 108 million (2025)
Key tourism policy priorities and actions:
Facilitating a culture of peace through tourism – Strengthening the inclusion and participation of communities and territories in the country’s tourism development and promoting the social function of tourism as a tool for guaranteeing rights and fostering human development.
Building equity and the well-being of people in tourism destinations – Promoting territorial development through tourism by strengthening governance, infrastructure and connectivity to improve the livelihoods of local communities.
Utilising tourism as a driver of sustainable economic growth – Positioning tourism as a source of economic growth for communities with minimal impact on ecosystems, improving the quality of life of residents and visitors and protecting the environment and its resources.
Tourism is an important contributor to the Colombian economy. In 2024, tourism contributed COP 33.4 trillion or 2.2% of total GVA, which is up 4.7% compared to 2023 and continues the steady recovery since 2020. Tourism supported 899 200 jobs, or 3.9% of total employment, representing an 8.4% increase compared to 2023. Travel exports accounted for 48.1% of total service exports in 2024.
Colombia welcomed a record 7.1 million international arrivals in 2024, an increase of 14.6% compared to 2023. The main source markets were the United States (16.9%), Mexico (5.2%) and Ecuador (4.9%). International tourism accounted for almost three-quarters (73.6%) of tourism consumption in 2024, or COP 49.2 trillion. International arrivals decreased by 15.3% in 2025.
Domestic tourism continues to surge with 54.8 million domestic overnight trips in 2024, 15.4% above 2023.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) is responsible for tourism policy in Colombia. Every four years, it develops the National Tourism Policy, based on the National Development Plan. An Integrated Destination Management Strategy enables intergovernmental co-ordination in the planning and management of tourism activities, resources, and stakeholders.
At the national level, the Ministry works with three main organisations: (i) FONTUR, the National Tourism Fund affiliated with the Ministry; (ii) ProColombia, the agency in charge of international promotion, the expansion of Colombian companies, attraction of foreign direct investment, positioning the country as a tourist destination and the country brand; and (iii) Colombia Productiva, which supports industry and companies to produce better quality services and greater added value to increase productivity and competitiveness.
The Ministry also collaborates with other ministries (e.g. the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Culture, and the National Planning Department) and consults with stakeholders and representatives of the private sector on all policies and strategies. At the regional level, tourism activities are decentralised, and their implementation is co-ordinated with regional authorities and local communities. Local authorities in each territory promote tourism.
Funding for tourism comes from the nation's general budget, mandatory contributions from tourism service providers (parafiscality), income from tourist properties and government-owned brands, and a USD 15 tax on international air arrivals.
The funding allocation for the Vice-Ministry of Tourism from the national general budget is for operating and management expenses. The main driver of investment and financing for the sector is the FONTUR, whose total investment budget for 2025 amounted to approximately USD 108 million.
Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, 2026.
The Sectoral Tourism Plan 2022-2026 provides the national strategy to guide the development of tourism in Colombia. The main goal of the Plan is to build the capacity of the tourism sector to consolidate the sustainable, responsible, and regenerative development of tourism by improving inclusion and innovative practices across government entities, businesses, communities, and territories. This can provide opportunities to create social and economic value in the tourism offer, boosting traveller demand and enhancing Colombia’s tourism profile and recognition. The Plan is supported by numerous complementing strategies including the Cultural Tourism Policy, National Sustainable Tourism Policy, National Strategy of Peace Destinations, and the National Gastronomic Tourism Strategy. Comprehensive support is also being provided to tourism regions to implement and execute the management models established in these programmes, including through the Territorial Tourism Development Level Platform (see box below).
The Tourism for a Culture of Peace Strategy has been implemented to promote the sustainable development of territories that were highly affected by armed conflict. It aims to create opportunities for economic development by strengthening tourism experiences that highlight historical memory, foster the local economy, promote a culture of peace, and support the reconstruction of the social fabric. With an investment of over USD 4 million, more than 480 productive units (both individuals and businesses) have been integrated into tourism sector supply chains, led by victims of the armed conflict, signatories of the peace agreement, people in processes of substitution of illicit crops, demobilised persons, and former combatants. In addition, 774 entrepreneurs have been authorised to use the “Colombia, Destinations of Peace” label; 903 entrepreneurs offering tourism products associated with peace have been profiled; 100 tourism experiences and 4 memory and peace tourism corridors have been strengthened; and the Tourism Network of Destinations of Peace has been designed.
To position Colombia as an accessible tourism destination, USD 1.7 million has been invested to improve accessibility at 178 attractions for people with visual and hearing disabilities and creating strategic accessible tourism plans for 10 destinations. To strengthen skills and human capacities in historically excluded populations 470 public educational institutions have joined the “Colegios Amigos del Turismo” programme, with more than 33 000 actors trained across the tourism value chain. This includes more than 2 000 participants in the Sustainable Rural Tourism course, 200 participants in the Creative Experience Design and Cultural Tourism course and 140 Indigenous leaders trained through in the Intercultural School of Indigenous Tourism. There have also been 780 scholarship recipients to improve professionalism in the sector.
Investment in infrastructure has become a priority to support community development. An investment of over USD 6 million has been made through 22 tourism infrastructure projects across 12 departments. These projects have aimed to transform and revitalise existing spaces to strengthen community-based tourism. In addition, Colombia is currently working to construct and install 88 tourism piers, which are located in both riverine and marine environments to ensure the safe docking, boarding, and disembarking of passengers for recreational and tourism purposes.
The Sustainable Tourism Policy seeks to strengthen the sustainability of the tourism value chain in Colombia to improve competitiveness, ensure the conservation and responsible use of natural capital, and generate greater added value and differentiation for the country. A key achievement has been establishing partnerships with national and international institutions to strengthen implementation of this policy, including: a memorandum of understanding with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF); adherence to the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative with UN Tourism and to the Baku Declaration; and work plans with Swisscontact and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The Responsible Tourism Strategy aims to position Colombia as a tourism destination recognised for good practices across the sector’s value chain, ensuring that tourism activities are carried out in a respectful, committed, sustainable, and responsible manner with the territory and its local population. Actions under this strategy are organised into eight programs or thematic areas, with five focused on crime prevention and three on promotion.
The sectoral Innovation and Digital Transformation Strategy "Turismo 4.0 for All" is a structural and systematic plan which aims to accelerate digital transformation and foster innovation in Colombia's tourism sector through capacity building, technological solutions, and disruptive business models. It integrates projects, partnerships, and technological tools that strengthen sector traceability, interoperability, and analytics, while promoting participation and co-creation by communities, local governments, tourism service providers, entrepreneurs, and strategic allies. Through this Strategy, 630 participants have been trained in digital competencies, 22 projects were incubated in the UN Tourism Community Tourism Contest in 2024. This resulted in the creation of the first community tourism digital ecosystem, Econexia, integrating 300 community tourism providers, and the first digital transformation programme for small accommodation providers has been developed in partnership with the TeAcerca.travel platform.
Integral Destination Management is a public-private co-ordination instrument that enables the development of regional co-operation and integration strategies, facilitating the exchange of experiences, knowledge, practices, and resources across the tourism sector. It aims to provide comprehensive support to regions through the implementation and execution of management models established in programmes created by the Vice-Ministry of Tourism. As part of this instrument, technical assistance has been provided to implement the Territorial Tourism Development Level Platform (NDTT) to strengthen local planning.
The Platform is a methodological tool that determines a destination's current tourism development level based on the evaluation and analysis of quantitative and qualitative supply and demand criteria. It organises and consolidates key information about destinations to provide a comprehensive view of their tourism situation. Through a structured system of components and indicators, the Platform identifies gaps, progress, institutional capacities, territorial conditions, and critical factors influencing performance. This tool enables comparative analysis among municipalities, tourism progress tracking, and the prioritisation of strategic actions, thereby strengthening planning, inter-institutional co-ordination, and evidence-based decision making.
The Platform currently has 425 registered municipalities. Of this total, 326 are in the self-diagnosis phase, where they progress in completing the methodology and uploading their indicators, a process they undertake autonomously with support from territorial managers.