06/15/2024
The tourism sector in Medellín is going through a critical moment. At the same time that the scourge of child sexual exploitation made the eyes of the world rest on the city, in an overwhelming problem that forced the local government to take shock measures, now the hotel occupancy figures also show resentment.
According to preliminary data from the Colombian Tourism and Hotel Association (Cotelco), hotel occupancy in the department of Antioquia during the month of May was 58% and in Medellín it was 62%. Figures well below those recorded last year, when occupancy in Antioquia was 66% and 71% in the capital.
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For this season, the union’s most optimistic projections are between 62% and 65%, which are even well below the average that the city’s hotels had during last year.
According to data from the Medellín Tourism Intelligence System (Situr), since last February the number of rooms sold in the capital of Antioquia has been steadily decreasing, going from 75,121 that month, to 72,071 in March to 67,184 in April of this year. This last month, 3,279 units below the 70,463 rooms sold in April 2023.
Although experts agree that behind this contraction factors such as inflation and the general situation of the Colombian economy have an important weight, it is not ruled out that the national and international media commotion that has caused the critical situation that the city faces with the sexual exploitation is taking a toll on its image and scaring average visitors who have nothing to do with these crimes.
Sum of evils
For Sandra Restrepo González, executive director of the Antioquia chapter of Cotelco, the most recent contraction is explained by several reasons, among them the country’s economy, which combines a rebound in inflation and interest rates.
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These two variables, he points out, have been discouraging spending by Colombians, a behavior that in the case of sectors such as tourism, which is not in the line of essential needs, ends up being one of the first hit.
Other problems have been added to this dynamic, such as the exit of the low-cost airline market nationwide and the end of some tax incentives that the tourism sector had during the pandemic; both phenomena that have also affected prices.
However, Restrepo warns that the figure may also be affected because tourists increasingly prefer to stay in tourist homes that they rent through digital applications than in hotels and hostels.
At this point the situation is as complex as it is with taxis and transportation applications: there are some that generate more employment, pay more taxes, comply with more regulations and therefore must charge more (hostels and hotels) and there are others that They generate almost no employment, they pay less taxes and have more flexible regulations, so they can charge cheaper (tourist homes).
According to statistics from the National Tourism Registry, in Antioquia there are 2,724 tourist accommodation establishments (hotels, hostels, glamping, etc.) and there are 13,657 registered tourist homes; That is to say, for each accommodation establishment there are five homes intended for tourism.
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For Restrepo, the campaigns against the sexual exploitation of girls, boys and young people in the city that the mayor of Medellín has carried out may also be influencing to some extent, but which have been especially focused on foreign tourists, who are the ones who most They occupy hotel beds: two out of every three tourists in Medellín hotels were foreigners in 2023.
Although the union leader considers that the campaign against this crime is necessary and maintains that the tourism sector has closed ranks to combat these crimes, she considers that the controversy that the issue has raised and the campaigns launched have also had a collateral effect. in the image of the city for the average tourist.
“If you arrive at an airport and everywhere you see things of sexual exploitation, well, any tourist gets scared, then we have to start talking in a more positive way about the city, about other things that can be done, about starting to show to Medellín to the outside the way it is,” says Restrepo González.
In this sense, the figures support the hotel union: although the cases of sexual exploitation of minors most widely reported by authorities and the media are those involving foreign visitors, statistics also show that the majority of cases of sexual crimes against minors continue to occur within the homes of Medellín at the hands of members of the same family of the victims, a problem that also demands fundamental solutions from State institutions.
rebound expected
Despite this panorama, the district administration is optimistic about what this holiday season will be like in terms of visits to the city.
According to the calculations of the newly created Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment of Medellín, at least 263,000 tourists are expected to arrive this season, which would translate into a tourist expenditure of about 62.7 million dollars.
While the hotel union hopes to hopefully reach 65% occupancy, the Mayor’s Office expects 76%.
It must be remembered that Medellín is the second city in the country with the most tourists per year, after Bogotá, and that the tourism sector contributes approximately 7% of the city’s GDP and, according to official statistics, generates about 90,000 jobs, both formal and informal. .
