The Colombian Institute of Culture and Tourism predicted Wednesday that the FIFA under-20 soccer tournament will boost tourism in Bogota by 250,000 people this year.
Nohara Vargas, the director of the institute, made the prediction during the launch of five mobile tourism security centers in Bogota, and announced that the number of tourists drawn to the city this year is expected to reach 1.5 million.
The director further noted that Colombia’s tourism sector is expected to gain between $10 million and $30 million from the tourism generated by the tournament.
In an interview with Caribbean News earlier this month, Vargas noted that Bogota is now Colombia’s chief city for tourism and that last year 52% of all international tourists visited the city. Vargas also said that the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranked Bogota sixth in Latin America in terms of holding big events and in the top 50 worldwide.