Mompox Certified as Sustainable Tourist Destination

The historic Colombian city of Mompox has been certified as a sustainable tourist destination by the nation. The designation was granted by Icontec and comes with support of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism and an investment of more than $80,000 USD (250 million pesos.

In addition to raising Mompox’s profile on the international tourist circuit, the certification aims to provide for the conservation of the beautiful 480-year-old city’s cultural heritage and offers the possibility for it to access public economic resources.

Specifically, it calls for the development of a “special management plan” and “preventive conservation plan” aimed at ensuring that this location of special importance to Colombian history will be maintained. The plan will be developed by local experts and the Ministry of Culture.

“Travelers arriving to Mompox have the possibility to live a unique experience, to know the local history, culture, colonial architecture, gastronomy, and everything that this municipality offers as an international tourist destination,” said María Claudia Lacouture, Colombia’s minister of commerce, industry, and tourism,

Mompox has a rich history and was one of the most important sites during the successful battle of independence that South American liberator Simon Bolivar waged against the Spanish crown. In one of his most famous quotes, the Venezuelan-born general reportedly said that, “if to Caracas I owe my life, then to Mompox I owe my glory.”

The city has also become the most revered location representing the region that Colombian writer and Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel García Márquez made famous in his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The historic center of Mompox was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. It is also one of 17 municipalities within the country’s “Red de Pueblos Patrimonio de Colombia,” a network of the most historic locations in Colombia that deserve dedicated preservation.

Photo credit: Cesar Pineda