The Colombia Pavilion has centered the spotlight to Risaralda, one of the four areas in Colombia that make up its Coffee Cultural Landscape area designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Several intriguing events were organised at the nation’s pavilion from November 21 to 23, 2021, allowing visitors to marvel at the exhibition of Risaralda, an area designated for its coffee producing legacy.
The two-day exhibition also highlighted Risaralda’s other major tourism attractions and its position as a destination for wellness. The region is considered as a great destination for health tourism in Colombia with teams of high-level professionals who practice all kinds of holistic wellness treatments.
In keeping with this, Pavilion visitors learnt about the region’s products and services.
To complete the experience, visitors also had the opportunity to learn the entire process of cultivation and production of coffee beans as they enjoy different types of Colombian coffee, famously known for its exceptional aroma and flavour. (This did not occur at the Pavilion. We want to tell about it as part of the experiences that tourists who visit Risaralda have).
The pavilion also showcased Risaralda’s range of products and services in the sectors of agribusiness, textile, health, and technology including strategic projects such as the Eje Cafetero Logistics Platform. The Eje Cafetero is a pivotal project aimed at enhancing the logistics in primary coffee production areas, stretching to over 50 kilometers and covers strategic entry ports to facilitate the region’s transformation to becoming a tourism, industrial and business epicenter.
In a bid to attract more potential investors from the UAE and other Gulf countries, the Risaralda delegation also presented the ‘Pereira Airport City’ project, one of the initiatives of Colombia offering complete tourist and cultural experience. In addition, the delegation highlighted the Center in Science & Biodiversity of Risaralda (CiBi) project which acts as a research center and tourist attraction highlighting the rich fauna and flora in the region.
Risaralda is one of Colombia’s top agrotourism destinations with over 45 thousand hectares of coffee plantation cultivated by over 19,000 families. It is also famed for its biodiversity which includes more than 900 species of birds and 150 species of mammal. The region’s breathtaking scenery, among other features, are known among domestic and foreign visitors. Risaralda, with 14 municipalities, is the major location and the ideal spot for enthusiasts of extreme sports, as it provides one of the greatest landscapes of the Risaralda Valley for skydiving, presenting the visitors with a sensation of liberty while progressing over the skies of the Coffee Cultural Landscape.
The Colombian Pavilion at Expo 2020 has succeeded in showcasing the potentials of Risaralda as a destination for tourists and investors alike.
