The fact that Colombia is host to the largest Happiness Festival in Latin America proves the importance of the warmth of its people when organizing events in the country.
The Be Happy fest is the first Happiness Festival in Colombia, and it’s the largest in Latin America. It has involved the participation of more than 300 life stories that have contributed positively to address an audience of 250,000 people who attended the Cali, Medellin and Bogota editions. In fact, the Be Happy Fest celebrated a new edition in August, in the capital, aiming to promote building a purposeful society.
Although it’s not a quantifiable factor, it’s possible to perceive and register the warmth of Colombians: because we feel at ease when we are among them. And even more so when we add the possibility of experiencing their lands filled with flavor, their warm seas and open skies, Colombia itself.
Whether they are from Bogota, Medellin, Arauca, Barranquilla, or Cartagena, spending a moment among Colombian people is like having a break with friends in their backyard. And we all need, at some point in the day, a break in good and special company.
Colombia is an excellent alternative for those seeking to return to a face-to-face, close and friendly encounter after the extensive isolation to which the coronavirus pandemic forced us.
In a context in which everything used to involve a handshake and a chat with coffee, and now we are seduced by a Zoom link or another online meeting, an event in Colombia could be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate – especially in the corporate, academic, scientific and business world – that human contact can never hurt us again.
As ProColombia has also stated, normality’s big comeback opens the door to new options, formats, and opportunities for these types of events. But, if we doubt the dangers of encounters, it’s important to highlight that the country has developed an innovative infrastructure to organize meetings under the omnichannel model: in mid-2020, the Colombian Ministry of Health issued a biosafety protocol for trade fair activities and business meetings.
Furthermore, Bogota stands out as one of the key destinations for encounters within meetings tourism. The Colombian capital can be the perfect spot for conferences, events and corporate meetings, and this is not just a compliment: diverse and multicultural, Bogota has been nominated as Leading Business Travel Destination by the World Travel Awards (WTA), best known as “the Oscars of the travel industry.”
What’s mentioned above is based on the fact that Bogota has 36 direct connections to the main cities of the world, it also has more than 170 options for parties, conferences and conventions. In fact, according to Bogota’s Chamber of Commerce and the Bogota Convention Bureau: “40% of the events held in the country are hosted in the capital city, boosting approximately 11 areas of the supply chain”.
In this context, the presence and convenience of strategic spaces such as Corferias, the Agora Bogota Convention Center, the G-12 Convention Center, the Tequendama Convention Center, the Compensar AV. 68, the Cosmos 100 Hotel and Convention Center and the Sheraton Convention Center, among other locations, have also been key and of great importance.
It should be noted that the organization of events in Colombia does not admit exclusivity parameters according to preferred areas. In October, Colombia will host 4 international sporting events of great importance, which will be held in the International High Performance Center located in Sogamoso, Boyaca. The venue passed, with flying colors, the supervisory examination of the Pan American Taekwondo Union to officially become the venue for 4 key events of the South American and World Circuit. So, it will host the I Pan American Children’s Taekwondo Championship in the history of the continent; the Pan American Open Children’s Championship as a preamble to the first edition of the Colombia Open -event category G2 in the WT ranking-; in addition to events that will be held prior to the World Championship in Guadalajara.
So let’s not wait any longer. Our work, professional, and associative activities are ready to see how we close our laptops for a while. And there is nothing better than the warmth of Colombian men and women to go out and rediscover the everyday places that we are so eager to re-inhabit.
