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TOURISM TODAY
Students Opinion nts trek
Lecture: Emerging Tourist Destination Development
By Elkin Romero Prieto
Jaime Alfaro, Director of the Office of Tourism in Barranquilla, explained some strategies that have let an increased touristic development in this nearby city during the last years.
The lecture took place last June 26th at Unicolombo’s auditorium, and the first reflexion was related with the image that we have about Barranquilla. When you talk about this city, you think about trading and port logistic because these are the main areas of its economy, and for these reasons you do not see this city as a touristic destiny.
But in 2016 Alejandro Char Barranquilla’s mayor created Tourism Secretary taking account the impact of the tourism for the city economy. The situation for the this office when started to work was difficult because they found a touristic sector divided, local people does not have touristic identity of the city, and the high touristic seasons were the carnival and Colombia qualify match for FIFA cup; and with all these problem the touristic office began to made strategic for catching touristic public through Barranquilla’s identity that is related with the carnival, Magdalena river, and some historic fact. On the other hand they work with school, give speech about tourism and good manners address to the local people and touristic company and invite them to rediscover their city.
Another important point are the different contractions like: Amira Rosa Theater, carnival museum, sports scenarios, recovery of 28 monuments, and the Magdalena river recovery additionally in this city the XXIII Centro American and Caribbean games will develop during 25 days with a moderns sports scenarios where 32 countries are going to participate.
In conclusion it was important for me as tourism administration student to listen during the speech how is the development of an emergent tourist destination and all the strategic to know it, and with this experience I learned a lot but I want to emphasize in the main thing that I learned “cooperation” between the different actors who working in the tourism area and as a result the join of them results achieve are positives for all.