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In challenging times, such as the one the world is facing today, virtuality has become an essential tool to keep business, commerce, culture and tourism running.
According to Flavia Santoro, president of ProColombia: "We are confident that by working together we can help the tourism industry regain all its strength and quickly return to its normal course". Meanwhile, thanks to various digital tools, it is now possible to explore corners, sounds and flavors of Colombia, just with one click!
Bogota:
The Tourism Institute of Bogota has grouped 24 clips of some emblematic tourist sites in the capital, using Google Trekker and Google Maps tools. Monserrate Hill, the 93 Park, Las Delicias Trail, the Parkway neighborhood, the Santander Park in the historic center of La Candelaria, El Verjón moorland, among others, can be visited virtually, by clicking here.
Medellín, Valle del Cocora (Coffee Cultural Landscape) and Cartagena:
Plaza Botero, Pueblito Paisa, the Orquídeorama, among other tourist sites of the City of The Eternal Spring can be enjoyed at a 360° angle, thanks to virtual routes of Medellín carried out by Ciudad Cúbica, a company dedicated to making high quality panoramic tours. On this website there are also routes around the historic center of Cartagena and even in the Cocora Valley.
Cali and Valle del Cauca:
Virtual Cities is a startup that is developing projects to promote various destinations, landscapes and places declared as Cultural Heritage in Colombia. They have already enabled the virtual tour of Cali and of the Valle del Cauca department, which includes must-see monuments such as Hacienda El Paraiso and the Basilica of the Lord of Miracles, in Buga.
Barranquilla:
El Prado, one of the most emblematic neighborhoods in the capital of the Atlantico department, turned a century old in March 2020 and, to commemorate the creation of one of the most ambitious urban projects in South America, an interactive virtual exhibition was created with all its history.
La Guajira:
Destinations as remote and fascinating as Rioacha can also be enjoyed on a 360-degree virtual tour. This tour includes, from the monument of the Yellow Butterflies of Mauricio Babilonia (One Hundred Years of Solitude), passing through the boulevard full of local crafts, the extensive beaches, until reaching the ranches of the Wayúu indigenous community.
All museums have their particularities and charm. They guard, preserve and display their collections for the enjoyment and education of locals and foreigners. The idea of going to a museum and spend hours there, contemplating its collections, is something that many people enjoy doing and, in times of quarantine, the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of Colombia with #MuseumsAtHome initiative is to visit, from everyone’s homely cosiness, these cultural spaces and learn more about the Colombian cultural heritage.
Some of the museums that have virtual experiences enabled in various cities of the country are:
For the globetrotters who are at home already thinking about the Bucket List of places to visit when the pandemic ends, in Colombia.Travel, a website that is available in English, French, German, Portuguese and even Japanese, they will be able to find valuable information about each Colombian destination, fairs and festivals, typical dishes, musical rhythms, and other practical information. There is also on its official YouTube channel, a playlist of more than 10 music videos that shows wonderful Colombian destinations, such as the Amazon, Cartagena, Cali, Santa Marta, La Guajira and Los Llanos Orientales, along with the beat of local musical genres such as champeta, salsa and vallenato.
Delirio is the most famous salsa spectacle in Colombia. It normally takes place in Cali every last Friday of each month, but given the circumstances, the dance company has decided to upload one of its shows performed in previous months every Friday on its official Facebook page, at 7 p.m. They are also sharing on their website the “behind the scenes” of their new musical show, which is titled Aurora and was meant to start in the previous month.
To do the salsa steps as good as the dancers who accompanied Shakira and Jennifer López at the Super Bowl, the Swing Latino Dance School is programming weekly salsa classes on the Zoom platform and, also, on Facebook Live. You can check the schedules directly here. From Cali, to the world!
If someone would have to describe Colombia in one word, it would be diversity. The country is surrounded by two oceans and three mountain ranges, and given its geography, it has a variety of thermal floors, and a rich mix of cultures and ethnicities. Traditional Colombian cuisine is full of those nuances, typical of the multiculturalism that lives in every corner of the territory.
Some of the most renowned Colombian chefs, such as Leonor Espinosa, have dedicated themselves during these days of quarantine, to prepare and share their favorite typical recipes.
To accompany the days of isolation, the Bogota and Medellin Philharmonic Orchestras continue to connect with their audience through digital channels and promote their musical repertoires, carrying a message of unity, hope and Colombian pride. The Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra has already hosted several new ensembles on its official Soundcloud page.
On the other hand, the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra did a virtual concert for its 37 year anniversary and, additionally, it is frequently sharing clips, on Facebook and Instagram, of melodic performances done by various musicians with different instruments.
Every Thursday at eight o'clock at night, the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, offers on its website and on its Facebook page, theater and dance performances as well as concert shows from all over the world. Among the selection of performing arts pieces to be broadcasted in the weeks to come, one can find musicals such as El Barbero de Sevilla, Beethoven Symphony concerts, Monsieur Periné concerts and even a Mariachi Festival gala. The schedule can be found here.
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world —and number one in birds, since we have more than 1,950 registered species—. With this in mind, in 2016, two photographers and advertisers created Birds Colombia, a project that aims to educate on the importance of birds and help protect their territories, using photography as a conservation tool. With the help of a collaborative network of 80 photographers, Birds Colombia uploads images and whistles of a different bird, every day of the year, under the slogan #OneBirdPerDay. At April 15, 2020, they already had 1,119 species of Colombian birds on the platform and they estimate to finish registering them all in July 2022.
The vast biodiversity of Colombia’s territory has also been portrayed on the big screen in films like Magia Salvaje; television series such as Andes Mágicos, by Netflix; Colombia BIO, a documentary series in which a group of researchers delves into inhospitable territories with the mission of documenting the fauna and flora of the country and in The Birders, a documentary that shows why Colombia is a birdwatching paradise.
