Leader of the Pack: Annie of Bogota

Hey there Travel Massive Community!

Thanks for your feedback and emails- we love hearing from you! We’re glad to a have this blog as a venue to keep our world-wide community updated with what’s happening in the travel massive community, including member interviews, event guides and event news.

In case you missed it, we interviewed Boston Travel Massive‘s co-organizer Polina Raygorodskaya of wanderu.com.

This time, we are featuring Annie Burbano, a co-organizer for the Bogota Travel Massive. Annie is from Colombia and studied tourism and digital marketing in Madrid. She’s been back in Colombia for almost three years now.

She founded turisTIC.co over two years ago and leads a wonderful team who work to provide digital solutions to improve the tourism sector in Colombia. They focus on creating digital data for a destination and share results with all tourism providers. They also help build digital strategies and execute video marketing, SEO, SEM and SM for their clients and partners. They work as a Colombian tourism innovation center.

Tell us a little about the travel industry in the Bogota.

Bogota is mainly a national and international business center. The hotel industry experiences high season during the week and low season on the weekends. The Colombia tourism numbers are very positive with notable increase in the number of visits to the country.

This year our goal is 4 million international tourist whereas last year we had only 1.8 million. These numbers are small compared to top destinations like Spain. However, they are very encouraging for us. Bogota is Colombia’s most visited city.

What travel company do you admire the most and why?

I really admire the Mano Cambiada project. A communitarian tourism project of the Afro community of the Pacific coast of Colombia. They advocate responsible tourism and education to benefit the community. And by doing so, bring progress to the region.

What are some of your favorite travel websites?

Escapar.com.co is a Colombian owned price comparison search site for booking flights and hotels. It  covers all the main companies who operate in the country. I also like Tripadvisor city guides app. Although it only includes major cities, all information is available offline. It’s great when you’re traveling abroad with no roaming. I also read a lot of travel blogs when traveling to a new place like ojosdelatina.com, colombianaviva.blogspot.com and eloyhanoi.com.

What are the biggest trends you are seeing in Bogota and in your industry?

Hotels are trying to make up for off season weekends by promoting romantic holidays for locals. So they can get away in their own city. Wifi is also perceived as a necessity for travelers and locals. So hotels, restaurants, museums and even public places now offer free wifi. In fact, we currently have 12 wifi zones in the city.

What are the biggest challenges for your industry?

The biggest challenges for the Colombian tourism industry is meeting international quality standards in terms of service. Secondly, we need to create proper tourism products that give travelers unique experiences in Colombia. And last but not least, to bridge the gap between tourism providers and the use of technology.

Who have you met at Travel Massive Bogota recently?

I met Jeanet, a flower expert at a small hotel “Casa Galeria” in la Candelaria.  She’s trying to rescue old Bogota’s traditions and bring them back to the hospitality industry.

Favorite travel tip in your city?

First always carry an umbrella. We get really intense sun in the morning but also a lot of rain in the afternoon. Don’t miss the old town La Candelaria where you have to eat tamal and ajiaco. Try to go to a farmers’ market and the biggest one is Paloquemado. But don’t ask the locals about it- they will tell you it’s not a nice place. What they don’t know is how fascinating it will be for you to see all different kinds of fruits.

Your next trip is to…

I’m actually traveling right now. I’m visiting the “imperial cities” of Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

Leader of the pack is a monthly series that profiles organizers of Travel Massive meet-ups around the world.