Colombia Poised to Be Big Source Market for U.S. Destinations Beyond Florida
Photo Credit: The numbers of Colombians traveling to the U.S. is growing in the past two years, presenting big opportunities for U.S. destinations. Flickr / Elvert Barnes
Skift Take
Colombians are itching to travel, particularly to the U.S. Now it's up to U.S. destinations, outside of Florida, to get much busier with their pitches. Are you listening, places like Las Vegas and Chicago?
Outbound tourism is the bread and butter for tour operators in Colombia with the U.S. as the main destination. Yet, for most U.S. cities beyond Miami, this is still a vastly untapped source market.
More than three million Colombians traveled abroad in 2021, about half of them to the U.S. This meant a 136 percent increase versus 2020, and only 33 percent below 2019 highs, according to the Ministerio de Comercio in Colombia.
Indeed, Skift Research identified Colombia in its "Global Travel Economics 2019-2029" as one of nine countries that could be the biggest source of outbound travelers, adding 200 million new visitors collectively, by 2029. Senior Skift Research Analyst Seth Borko wrote: "We identified nine countries that we expect to approach or cross this threshold in the next decade: China, Iran, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. These countries are worth paying attention to as, collectively, we expect them to add just
