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INTERNATIONAL
menez de Quesdada Convention
Center opened in
1980. Alternatively, the Tequendama
Crowne Plaza Hotel
& Convention Centre features
no fewer than 32 meeting
rooms for 10 to 2,500
people on total space of
some 7,000 m². In the Sheraton
Hotel & Convention
Cartagena – a
World Heritage site
Centre another eight rooms
measuring 2,500 m² in all
await 10 to 1,400 guests,
while the Compensar Convention
Centre can offer two
large auditoria, 15 smaller
meeting rooms and spacious
areas for exhibitions and concerts.
Transfers within Bogotá
are no great problem either.
An innovative metropolitan
bus system has long
since been introduced to
keep transportation flowing
freely in the city.
One of the main attractions
for visitors to Colombia is still
Cartagena de Indias on the
Caribbean coast. In 2009
more than 141,000 air passengers
headed for Cartagena,
a figure that does not include
domestic travellers or
backpackers. In 1985 UNES-
CO designated the Old City
ringed round by eleven kilometres
of historical walls (las
Murallas) a World Heritage
site. With international development
aid and reference to
old building plans it was restored.
Today visitors marvel
at the long narrow streets
lined with old merchant’s
houses, colonial churches,
convents and the massive
encircling city walls. To accommodate
brisk visitor de-
A dorado for outdoor activities:
The Tayrona National Park.
mand Cartagena is now also
embracing the luxury segment.
In December 2009, for
example, the five-star Hotel
Royal Decameron opened on
the island of Barú off the
coast of Cartagena de Indias.
It comprises 330 guestrooms,
four restaurants,
four bars, three swimming
pools, a fitness centre, spa
and conference facilities for
700 people. The Colombian
ministry of tourism is planning
further hotel buildings,
1,200 holiday chalets, an 18hole
golf course, a marina
and a shopping centre for the
375-hectare island.In total
the city offers 388 hostelries,
ranging from simple lodgings
to deluxe hotels and really
delightful small boutique hotels,
most of which are built
in the colonial style and contain
an average of between
six and twelve spacious bedrooms.
These are especially
suited to smallish incentive
groups.
Incidentally, the Spanish hotel
chain Sol Meliá has also
recognised Columbia’s tourist
potential, launching its
commitment in the country
with two hotels at once. Both
properties in Columbia are
run under the Meliá brand. In
Cartagena de Indias the fivestar
Meliá Cartagena provides
268 guestrooms, spa
and fitness amenities, various
restaurants, function
rooms, an exclusive section
called “The Level”, a shopping
centre and a 1,000 m²
casino. In Barranquilla, an important
Caribbean seaport,
the Meliá Barranquilla can
boast 253 rooms plus a large
conference centre holding
up to 1,000 people.
Its varied meeting facilities
and good infrastructure
make Cartagena an excellent
destination for congresses
as well as incentives. Organisers
will find nothing to
fault in the Cartagena de Indias
Convention Center, for
one. An especially versatile
feature is its Barahona Hall,
which holds up to 2,000 people
but can be partitioned into
four smaller sections for 550
people each. In each of these
units there is a technology
control room, and simultaneous
interpreting systems are
available. The facilities in the
centre are rounded off by the
1,475-seat Getsemani Auditorium
with a 512 m² foyer, an
exhibition hall for 19 standard
exhibition booths of six
square metes each, various
foyer and lobby areas and the
2,000 m² Patio de Banderas,
an ideal setting for open air
functions such as exhibitions
or banquets.
Besides which, local hotels
such as the Cartagena Hilton,
the Hotel Las Américas and
the Hotel Sofitel Cartagena
Santa Clara are also furnished
with conference centres
of their own.
Another pearl on the Caribbean
coast is Santa Marta at
the foot of the Sierra Nevada
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