Colombia’s tourism lodging sector ended the primary part of 2026 on a decrease notice than the whole economic system, studies point out. The rustic’s resorts had a mean occupancy of 47.4 p.c, 1.7 proportion issues down at the 49.0 p.c recorded in the similar length of 2025, and three.4 issues underneath the 52.4 p.c of 2022, in keeping with the Nationwide Administrative Division of Statistics (DANE), which publishes the Per 30 days Lodging Survey (EMA).
A number of the twelve areas lined by means of the EMA, 8 had decrease occupancy charges than a yr in the past, illustrating the standard nature of the phenomenon. Fewer guests additionally intended fewer revenues for the sphere, which dropped 6.8 p.c in actual phrases in comparison to the primary part of 2025, in keeping with the nationwide lodge affiliation.
The fashion contrasts with the wider economic system, which grew 2.9 p.c within the first part of 2026, in comparison to an annual contraction of three.0 p.c within the lodging and meals services and products department. In the second one quarter, the 2 halves noticed a better differential: general GDP grew 3.5 p.c, in comparison to contraction of four.0 p.c for the above-mentioned department. Against this to total GDP enlargement of seven.7 p.c recorded for Colombia in 2022, the lodging and food-service sub-account nonetheless grew at a price of -1.8 p.c: a pattern, business figures say, which has no longer benefited similarly formal accommodation institutions, which come with massive and small resorts, plus aparthotels, hostels, vacation lodges, rural tourism lodging and tenting websites.
The similar development implemented to employment within the sector, which used to be down 4.5 p.c in comparison to the primary part of 2025. A number of the twelve areas surveyed, 11 registered a web relief in formal jobs for the length.
Business representatives say that those figures, which constitute the 6th consecutive yr of decline for the sphere, represent an pressing enchantment to the brand new management, lately led by means of President Abelardo de los angeles Espriella , which will have to take measures to spur call for and take steps to stage the enjoying box between formal and casual operators within the face of a extremely aggressive atmosphere that includes a strongly undervalued foreign money (the peso, which trades at round 3,000 for a unmarried buck).
Business representatives consider that, along with the casual provide cushioned by means of the buck’s low worth, some other issue suppressing call for for tourism lodging is the tax and institutional asymmetry between the 2 classes of operators. Whilst the nationwide affiliation counts 503,000 beds in vacationer houses, it estimates that there are some other 512,000 in non-formalized, non-registered resorts.
The safety scenario in sure spaces remains to be an element that has effects on this case, particularly making an allowance for the results of the herbal crisis that came about in those areas in mid-August. The affiliation requested the federal government to put into effect measures that advertise regularization and facilitate and boost up the adoption of particular measures for the hotel-restaurant business, together with correcting fiscal and regulatory imbalances and strengthening keep watch over and oversight of the unregulated accommodation sector.
With 8 of each and every twelve surveyed areas seeing decrease occupancy, the figures level to a power problem for formal operations, the place decrease revenues have fueled discounts in employment and which will have to cope with casual operators, which experience benefits in numerous spaces and proceed to have extra call for, no less than on the regional stage.
