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Tourism in Colombia
Tourism in Colombia has steadily grown since the 1950s with the increase in safety and growth in the economy. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism is the Colombian ministry in charge of tourism affairs. During the most famous festivals such as the Cali's Fair, the Barranquilla's Carnival, the Bogota Summer Festival, the Iberoamerican Theater Festival and the Flower Festival is when the most foreign tourists go to Colombia. Many people visit Colombia during Christmas time and the celebrations surrounding the Independence of Colombia.
The Ministry of Tourism considers high seasons the holy week, summer and Chirstmas season. During the holy week many travel to the Caribbean Region of Colombia or visit religiuos landmarks like Las Lajas Cathedral, Salt Cathedral, the towns of Mompox, Guamal or Popayan where roman catholic traditions and rituals are performed, among others.
Attractions
World Heritage Sites
There are a number of UN World Heritage Sites located in Colombia:
Cartagena
Ciudad Perdida
Los Katios National Park
Malpelo Island
Santa Cruz de Mompox
San Agustin, Huila
Tierradentro
Attractions in Bogota
Bogota Botanical Garden
Bolivar Square
Capitolio Nacional
Gold Museum
La Candelaria
Luis Angel Arango Library
Maloka Museum
Other attractions
Colombian National Coffee Park
Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira
San Andres island
Ecotourism
Colombia has coastline, mountainous areas, and tropical jungle. There are volcanoes and waterfalls.
Amacayacu Park
Cocora valley
Los Nevados
Dona Juana-Cascabel Volcanic Complex
Gorgona and Malpelo islands
Los Katios National Park
Munchique National Park
Serrania de la Macarena
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park
PANACA Park
PANACA SABANA Park
Tayrona Park (Santa Marta)
Desierto de Tatacoa
Chicamocha Canyon National Park
Mariposario enthomologic display specialized in Lepidoptera
Penasblancas rock climbing site.
Gambling
Casinos are located in Bogota, Cali, Cartagena, Cucuta, Medellin, Palmira, and San Andres.
Safety
Even though Colombia has been plagued with Travel advisories because of FARC and other guerrillas groups, it has continued to attract more tourists in recent years. The apparent cause appears to be the current hardline approach of President Alvaro Uribe called democratic security to push rebels groups farther away from the major cities, highways and tourist sites that may attract international visitors. Since President Uribe took office in 2002, he has notably increased Colombia's stability and security by significantly boosting its military strength and police presence throughout the country. This apparently has achieved fruitful results for the country's economy, particularly international tourism. In 2006, tourism officials are expecting approximately 1.5 million international visitors to visit Colombia, an astonishing increase of about 50% from the previous year. Even Lonely Planet, a world travel publisher, has picked Colombia as one of their top 10 world destinations for 2006. The World Tourism Organization reported in 2004 that Colombia achieved the third highest percentage increase of tourist arrivals in South America between 2000 and 2004 (9.2%). Only Peru and Suriname had higher increases during the same period. International Tourist Arrivals by Country of Destination, Tourism Market Trends, 2005 Edition, World Tourism Organization. Due to the improved security, cruise ships will begin returning to Cartagena in October 2007. To further point out the improved security in the country, in June 2007, the Travel Channel's show, 5 Takes Latin America, aired an episode on Colombia. Points of interest on the show were Bogota, Cocora Valley in Salento, and the Salt Cathedral.
Transportation
There are regular international flights into major cities including Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cali, Medellin and Bogota as well as to other smaller cities in the borders with Venezuela and Ecuador.
There are daily direct flights to and from the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, and South America.
Domestic air transportation is inexpensive and readily available.
Buses travel between cities but may not be safe when traveling at night.
Weather
The climate is tropical along coast and eastern plains; cold in the highlands; periodic droughts. Colombia is an equatorial country, so there are no seasons in the common sense of the word. Temperatures do not vary much throughout the year. What Colombians normally refer to as the winter is the rainy season.
External links
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tourism in Colombia
