Millennium Destinations attends the Colombia Nature Travel Mart 2020

As part of the development of its activities in Latin America, Millennium Destinations took part in the Colombia Nature Travel Mart 2020 and had a series of promising matchmaking meetings with local travel businesses. 

The 8th edition of the Colombia Nature Travel Mart was held virtually on Nov. 17 to 20, 2020. It was organized by the Government of Colombia at the head of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and ProColombia, with the support of FONTUR, the National Tourism Fund of Colombia. 

Against this background, ProColombia's office in Korea invited Millennium Destinations to participate in the Macrorrueda Colombia Travel Mart (CTM) 2020 as a Seoul-based impact company specialized in business services and solutions for sustainable tourism development and marketing. 

From Nov. 18 to 20, Catherine GERMIER-HAMEL, Founder & CEO of Millennium Destinations met a dozen of Colombian travel businesses, including eco-friendly accommodation providers such as eco-lodges, eco-resorts, glampings, etc. as well as travel agencies, tour operators, hosts of nature-based experiences including  bird watching, whale watching, hiking / trekking, etc.

​She took this opportunity to introduce the two flagship solutions of Millennium Destinations: Herost, online travel guide and index promoting sustainable destinations, experiences and practices, and Millennium Hikers, global initiative using hiking, walking and outdoor activities as tools for local development and community empowerment. Following those promising discussions, some offerings have already been listed in the Herost platform which has selected Colombia has pilot country. 

Sustainable Tourism in Colombia

Whereas sustainable tourism has become a top priority for Colombia, nature tourism has been been developed as a key activity to reactivate the economy. It now stands as the segment with the greatest potential in the country that has the second highest level of biodiversity in the world, after Brazil. "The new tourism points towards responsible nature trips that are respectful of destinations, and that is precisely the offer that Colombian entrepreneurs are going to show international companies in this macro-round,” explained Flavia Santoro, ProColombia President.

The overseas markets that participated in this 2020 edition were Argentina, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. And the participating Colombian departments were Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca, Bolívar, Antioquia, Risaralda, Caldas, Magdalena, Quindío, Santander, Nariño, Casanare, Putumayo, Chocó, Atlántico, Meta, Tolima, Amazonas, Huila and La Guajira. 

On Dec. 3, 2020, Catherine attended a lecture on the National Park of Chiribiquete by Carlos Castaño Uribe, hosted by the Colombian Embassy in Korea. 

Tourism in Colombia
Colombia's National Sustainable Tourism Policy (in Spanish)