January 2021

Sam is the owner of OUT in Colombia, an inbound tour operator catering to the LGBTQ+ market with a variety of pre-packaged and custom personalized itineraries that focus on the country’s wealth of adventure, art, history, nature, and big-city attractions. Sam is an American citizen who has been living in Colombia. He started his company in 2016. 

Q. What makes Colombia better than before?
A: There’s something for every traveler here in Colombia. With respect to travel during the pandemic specifically, there are quite a lot of remote areas, all with a lot of quality experiences to enjoy. Travelers are just not subject to crowded spaces here. Take the Cocora Valley, we’ve got cloud forests…with soaring palm trees. In Colombia, you have beaches and deserts, islands and big, modern cities. There’s a diversity of climate, diversity of landscapes. Hot Caribbean coasts, cooler mountain regions, really cool urban areas, and Amazon rain forests. And you can have this all, in one trip.

People are being more conscious of health and safety protocols now. Colombia is a developing country, and the tourism sector is growing and developing as well. In a very short period of time, from the moment the peace agreement was signed in 2016, there’s been rapid growth in the number of international visitors. COVID has given the travel industry a break to reflect on growth, how they operate, and what sort of practices are in place, as well as the communication and coordination between suppliers and local authorities. This has ultimately made the experience for travelers more seamless, safe, and secure. 

And yes, we’re a developing country, but it is still very modern in the big cities. It's clean, it's organized, healthcare here is amazing. We’re not a large country. Colombia is easy to get to, and to get between one destination to another: one hour -- or less -- flying time. The cultures and interactions are diverse, the foods are different, and that I think is one of its biggest strengths. In the big cities, it’s very modern, clean, and well-organized. This guarantees a great travel experience. 

Q. What is it like to travel to Colombia now? What are the requirements to enter?
A. You used to need a negative PCR test result with you when you arrived. You don’t have to anymore;  in terms of the US, which is our major market, there are no required tests anymore. You register with immigration before your flight, and your airline will share that info with you. You fill in your info electronically, you get a confirmation with a QR code, and you show that to immigration. That’s it. After you arrive, they encourage you to download an app, it’s not a requirement, but everyone here uses it: CoronApp. It’s for contact tracing. 

Things are very controlled here, and people don’t protest having to wear masks, they have it under control here as much as they possibly can. Wherever you go there are bio-security protocols in place for everything. You are going to have to wear a mask. When you enter a building or restaurant, they will take your temperature, they will give you some sort of disinfectant for your hands, they may also spray the bottom of your shoes, so you don’t track any diseases in. They’ve successfully managed the crisis.

Q. Are activities and excursions available?
A. Yes, and we’ve validated that every one of our suppliers and partners have biosecurity protocols in place. I’ve gone out and experienced what it's like to travel in Colombia myself to see how these safety protocols are being implemented. Masks are worn and security/safety protocols in place everywhere. Even adventure activities are up and running. In fact, I just sold a paragliding experience to someone who is coming in January who wanted to do it for her birthday. The only thing you need to do is to have an advance reservation in place. And we work very closely with our suppliers so everything is pre-arranged.
 
With slight adaptation and some variations between different cities, things are very much back to normal. So, say, if you are traveling with a group, maybe 8 people, transportation is still available, but you might need a 16-19 passenger van to comply with spacing protocols. Most people prefer more space, it’s more comfortable and the cost really isn’t that much higher.
 
Q. What’s it like to dine out, go shopping, or sightsee around the country?
A. They are using technology here to keep things accessible and safe. For example, in many restaurants, you can register on the restaurant's app, get a QR code to access their menu on your phone. They bring you a bag to place your mask in while you enjoy your food. In some restaurants, you can even pre-order so you can limit your close-up interactions with staff at the restaurant if you want to. The restaurants are pretty full, actually. There is lots of outdoor seating. The cities, look at Medellín for example, the city shut down traffic in the restaurant area so the restaurants could take over the streets and people can walk and dine outside. It’s actually quite nice. Every restaurant takes your temperature when you get there, everyone wears face masks, there are no physical menus changing hands. It allows people a little more flexibility and a sense of security and everyone feels that things are being managed well.

Sightseeing is the same, but you need to have a reservation. This is done in order to control crowds. And we have great relationships with our suppliers, so no guest arrives unannounced anyway. We have our rum tasting experience in Cartagena, which is probably my favorite thing to do. The bartender will have a face mask on and people will be spaced out more, but it’s the same experience. In fact, at the resort I’m in right now, they are offering coffee, chocolate, and rum tastings….the 3 major food groups here.

Q. Are all tourist services/facilities/attractions open?
A. Yes everything is open and operational as before. The one thing you won’t see is bars open all night (they close around midnight), nightclubs, and big venue events like stadium concerts.
 
Q. What about hotels?
A. So, you have the temperature checks, the constant cleaning of high-touch areas, Hotels are doing a good job as well. They have taken out some furniture as well as quite a lot of decoration, because they have to sanitize every surface, so they’re minimizing the amount of surfaces they need to keep clean. So now the experience is a little different: I can’t have room service, but I can go to the kitchen, order food, take it back up to my room.
 
At any of the resorts we have here on the Rosario Islands, they have a nurse on duty and within minutes you have the results to know whether you have the virus or have recently been exposed to it. It gives you peace of mind because you're on an island with other people whose tests results show they have not been exposed and are not infected. Because it is an island, there’s lots of social distancing everywhere and you feel free to walk around without a mask on. You don’t have those restrictions you have in the cities. It offers total luxury, total freedom.  Things are basically back to normal with slight adaptations, travelers only need to be a bit flexible because the protocols might differ slightly from place to place. The Colombian people have always been known to be friendly, welcoming, and inclusive. The way they have managed the pandemic pretty much proves this.