This morning in Bogota, a new official blogger program for Colombia is being announced. And I’m excited to be a part of it.
Lead by Proexport, the organization responsible for promoting tourism in Colombia, the program unites 30 expat travel bloggers with a proven passion for sharing the best the country has to offer.
The names of the participating bloggers can now be seen on the Colombia travel portal, however their biographical, blog, and social media has yet to be added.
It’s a true multinational effort, with English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese bloggers set to contribute.
Each month, the bloggers are responsible for submitting two articles to be shared on Colombia’s travel site. These articles can either be new material, or stories previously published elsewhere.
In return, the bloggers are promoted through the official Colombia tourism site and social media accounts. There will also be potential extras provided to the official bloggers, such as special event invites and/or organized trips to different parts of the country.
I believe Colombia’s investment in fostering a unified expat blogging community holds a lot of promise, and again, I’m super excited to be one of the first bloggers to participate.
This program is very much in beta mode, meaning there will be kinks to work out along the way with regard to how we all work together. It’s new territory for everyone involved, but I’m confident the resulting synergies will present themselves very quickly.
Colombia will be promoting expat bloggers, and expat bloggers will be promoting Colombia. It’s a recipe for success, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other Latin American countries follow Colombia’s lead in the years to come.
After all, if there’s a country with an uphill battle to remake its global image, it’s Colombia.
And I for one, enjoy a challenge.
Dave, awesome news! Well done! How did you get involved in this opportunity with pro export and any advice for us smaller wannabe bloggers on how we might contribute articles?
Cheers
James
Thanks Jamie. I was approached about participating in the program about 4-5 months ago, and have been waiting anxiously to see it go public.
Once the biographical info is added to the list of official bloggers on the Colombia site, I’d say take a look at who is participating and their blogs.
I’m pretty sure traffic alone isn’t the biggest factor. They may have tried to get a nice cross section of people who are promoting different parts of the country (I’ve got a Medellin blog, Kristin has a Cali based blog, etc). As well as people of different nationalities, writing in various languages (beyond English and Spanish).
I’ll certainly share more about the experience as time goes on. Right now, we’re still just getting the ball rolling.
well this is a step in the right direction but they still have a long ways to go. Getting rid of DAS doing visa applications, getting more information out about events (like all 27 national holidays and why they are), more local maps for tourist places, more English posted signs for tourist. Countries like Peru and Ecuador have it figured out, Colombia just has to catch up.
Yea, I agree it’s another step in the right direction. I’m sure as the government continues to push for higher tourism numbers year to year, it’ll force improvements.
I’ve been impressed with Peru, and their network of tourist offices in all the cities I’ve visited so far. Each office has folding pamphlets in English and Spanish for all the major sites in that area, plus some really useful maps too. It makes getting your bearings in a new city that much easier.
But Ecuador has the Galapagos, and Peru Machu Picchu, so I’m not at all surprised they’re tourism industry is ahead of Colombia.
whats the name of this hotel Dave? Beautiful…..give me some tips..i want to take my female friend there from Medellin…give me some tips
thanks
It’s called Hotel Patio del Castellano, and it cost me about $80 per night on the weekend (all inclusive, so I got 6 meals too). Here’s their website: http://hotelensantafedeantioquia.com/
Actually the idea of the blog sounds exciting. As someone who has traveled to Colombia many times over the last decade, I can tell you that I have never had any problems regarding safety while there.
But, you cannot easily convince the average person that Colombia is safe. So, you have to take yourself out of your own frame of mind and look at the situation through the eyes of an American who gets worried if the toilet is stopped up.
By the way I love America and Americans. I am American. But, I know that concerns for safety is the number one priority of Americans when traveling abroad.
Good Luck!
Also, do you know anything about ProExport or someone who works for them?
Hi Alex, no, I don’t have much info on Proexport. Why do you ask?