Within the framework of ANATO 2025, the most important tourism fair in Colombia, the Dominican Republic maintained a dominant presence to solidify its position as one of the favorite international destinations for Colombians. With a sustained growth in the number of visitors, greater air connectivity, and a constantly evolving tourist offer, the Caribbean country continues to consolidate itself as the ideal option for vacations.

The Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic was present at the fair with an official stand, inaugurated in the presence of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado. During the inauguration, the minister highlighted the importance of the Colombian market and initiated a series of cultural and business activities that will strengthen relations with the country’s tourism sector. “With this participation in ANATO 2025, we reaffirm our commitment to promote the Dominican Republic as a key destination and strengthen our relationship with Colombian tourism, a strategic ally for the growth of the sector,” Collado said. The inauguration was also attended by the media, who highlighted the relevance of this event for the tourism industry.

As part of its strategy to strengthen the Colombian market, the Dominican Republic held a successful roadshow at the Sheraton Hotel in Bogotá, where it presented the latest developments in the destination. The event brought together travel agencies, representatives of the hotel sector, and renowned international public figures, who lived first-hand the experiences that the country offers its visitors. This roadshow, like other events organized during the fair, is consolidated as a key space for the generation of business, the strengthening of commercial relations, and the promotion of new opportunities in the tourism sector.

The Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic was present at the fair with an official stand. Photo credit: LLYC.global.

Colombians’ interest in the Dominican Republic continues to rise. In 2023, 305,655 Colombian tourists visited the country, and in 2024, the figure grew to 335,819, evidencing a constantly growing demand. A key factor has been air connectivity, with more than 3,600 flights operated in 2024 between the two countries. Of these, 50% depart from El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, and more than 60% of passengers arrive directly in Punta Cana. Airlines such as Copa Airlines, Avianca, Arajet, Wingo, and Air Century have played a fundamental role in the consolidation of these routes.

In addition to Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic has diversified its tourism offerings, positioning new regions such as Costa del Ámbar, Miches, Samaná, and Santiago. These destinations offer a unique combination of nature, luxury, history, and culture, with paradisiacal landscapes, eco-adventures, and vibrant urban centers with a rich gastronomic tradition.

To strengthen its relationship with the tourism sector, the country has “DO Travel Rewards”, a loyalty program aimed at travel agents that has trained and connected more than 20,000 professionals around the world with the hotel industry, generating new opportunities and value offers for travelers. With its outstanding presence at ANATO 2025 and the support of the Ministry of Tourism, the Dominican Republic reaffirms its commitment to the Colombian market, consolidating strategic alliances and presenting its wide tourism offering to continue attracting more travelers in the coming years.

Headline Image Credit: LLYC.global.

Collective Mining Ltd (NYSE: CNL, TSX: CNL FSE: GG1). has reported significant assay results from two follow-up drill holes in the recently identified Ramp Zone within its Apollo system, part of the Guayabales Project in Caldas, Colombia. Drill hole APC103-D2 intersected 51.95 meters grading 8.38 grams per tonne (g/t) gold equivalent (AuEq), including an 18.05-meter segment at 16.32 g/t AuEq. This represents the deepest mineralization encountered at Apollo, reaching approximately 1,200 meters below the surface.

The Ramp Zone discovery shares characteristics with reduced or partially reduced intrusion-related systems, similar to Aris Mining’s Marmato Deeps gold deposit, located 1.75 kilometers southeast. The Marmato Deeps deposit hosts a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate of 3.76 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated category at 2.54 g/t gold and 2.54 million ounces of inferred gold at 2.39 g/t gold.

Drilling efforts are ongoing in the Ramp Zone, with two holes in progress and a third drill pad under construction. The zone remains open in all directions for potential expansion. Collective Mining’s 2025 drilling program includes up to three rigs targeting the Ramp Zone as part of a fully funded 60,000-meter campaign. The company has also contracted two additional rigs, with drilling commencing in February.

Section highlighting how the Apollo System’s Ramp Zone discovery and Marmato Deeps deposit are only 1.75 kilometers apart and begin at a similar elevation. Photo credit: Collective Mining Ltd.

The Ramp Zone mineralization is between 1,050 and 1,200 meters below the surface. Gold and silver mineralization is associated with sulfides of bismuth and tellurium, along with pyrite and pyrrhotite in veins and stockwork. The company has dispatched samples for microscopic evaluation to better understand the genesis of the Ramp Zone.

Collective Mining Ltd. is a gold, silver, copper, and tungsten exploration company with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The company’s flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo system, which hosts large-scale, bulk-tonnage, and high-grade mineralization.

The company is listed on the NYSE and TSX under the trading symbol “CNL” and on the FSE under the trading symbol “GG1”.

Apollo System Section: High-Grade Continuity from the surface for over 1,200 meters and open. The Ramp Zone begins at the proposed underground access tunnel at approximately 1,000 meters above sea level. Photo credit: Collective Mining Ltd.

Table 1: Ramp Zone Assays Results for Drill Holes APC103-D1 and APC103-D2

Colfondos, a Colombian pension fund manager, has appointed Ricardo Guerra as its new president, effective February 2025. Guerra brings over 17 years of experience in the pension sector, including roles such as General Manager at UNO AFP, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, and Director of Strategy at VTR.

Guerra holds a degree in Industrial Civil Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an MBA from INSEAD Business School. In addition to his corporate roles, he has served as an MBA and Innovation Master’s professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Colfondos, established in 1991, specializes in managing mandatory and voluntary pensions and severance funds. The company is part of Grupo Habitat, with Prudential Financial as a significant shareholder. Prudential was recently recognized as one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies,” ranking first in the life and health insurance industry.

Guerra’s appointment comes during a period of significant changes in Colombia’s pension system, following recent reforms approved by Congress. He succeeds the previous president, who left the position in early 2024. Colfondos reiterates its commitment to providing solid financial support to its clients, adhering to high financial and operational standards, and offering diverse investment portfolios tailored to the needs of Colombians planning for retirement.

Headline Image: Ricardo Guerra. Photo credit: Colfondos.

The 44th edition of the Anato Tourism Showcase concluded successfully. 52,000 key players in the tourism sector’s value chain participated, exceeding the number of attendees of the previous year by 5%.

This year, the fair presented important novelties, including the inauguration of the “Tourism with Purpose” stand, a space dedicated to sustainable and inclusive tourism projects. Representatives of rural tourism, indigenous communities, the LGBTIQ+ population, and enterprises focused on accessible tourism for people with disabilities participated in this stand.

Likewise, the “Excellence Colombia” stand was highlighted, bringing together initiatives recognized for their high tourism quality standards. In addition, the momentum of the stands of “Heritage Towns” and “Colombia, Destinations of Peace” was maintained, the latter with the participation of 80 entrepreneurs who, through tourism, transform their territories.

A positive day

During the three days of the event, more business relationship meetings were held between various actors in the sector, with deals estimated at $54 million USD, with 80% of the information processed (according to ProColombia). The general balance of the Tourism Showcase, the most important event in the country in terms of tourism, confirms that the sector continues to consolidate itself as a key engine for national economic growth, with positive prospects for the end of this year.

At the inauguration, President Gustavo Petro highlighted: “The purpose is to replace foreign currency resulting from the extraction of non-renewable resources, such as coal and oil, with tourism, which is a sector that generates more employment and is more productive.”

For this purpose, MinCIT held strategic meetings with territorial entities and international authorities to establish lines of joint work and generate opportunities for the country’s tourism development through bilateral alliances. Among these are the meeting with the Minister of Tourism of Argentina and the meeting with the Director of Air and Maritime Access of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, in addition to meetings with countries such as Cuba, China, and the Dominican Republic.

Colombia continues to consolidate itself as a leading destination in the region. The positive results of this edition show that articulated work between the public and private sectors is the key to strengthening the industry and positioning the “Country of Beauty” in the global tourism scenario. Photo credit: ANATO.

Regarding the growth of tourism, the Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, Luis Carlos Reyes, explained that the sector already exceeds coal in foreign exchange earnings. In addition, he said: “Although the goal of the four years is to reach 7.5 million non-resident visitors to Colombia, there is optimism about the possibility of exceeding these figures, since tourism is a point of consensus among all Colombians; something we all agree on, in that it not only brings foreign currency to the country, but also opportunities for people from traditionally excluded places.”

On the other hand, the General Manager of Fontur, Fernando Estupiñán, had a full agenda with tourism service providers and local authorities to provide support and project the development of high-impact tourism initiatives. Among the agreements reached is the signing of the agreement with the Mayor’s Office of Providencia and Santa Catalina for the implementation of efficient nautical signage for the beaches of the island of Providencia, with an investment of more than $4000 million.

The Anato 2025 Tourism Showcase not only exceeded expectations in terms of participation and completed business but also reaffirmed the role of tourism as a key driver for the country’s economy

Similarly, a meeting was held with the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge, in which joint actions were defined to strengthen the destinations of the Macondo Route in a sustainable and friendly way with local communities. This inter-institutional articulation seeks to promote the safeguarding of intangible heritage, collective memory, and economic development of both the territory and local inhabitants.

“In the last editions of this Tourism Showcase, we see more and more qualified and complete offers from each of the entrepreneurs and destinations that participate. This demonstrates the importance of Fontur, which carries out fundamental work to promote tourism quality and accompany territorial entities and tourism service providers. A very clear example is Mompox, where last year, important investments were made to improve the tourist infrastructure in the Albarrada, which allowed to increase its promotion at this fair,” said Fernando Estupiñán.

Award for the best stand

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Fontur awarded, for the third consecutive year, the most visited and creative stands of the Anato 2025 Tourist Showcase. In this edition, the winners were chosen by public vote, who chose their favorites.

With a total of 126,064 votes, the first three places with the highest scores were awarded. The winners received media plans for the promotion of their territories and financing of up to 100% for their participation in the next edition of the fair. The winners were:

• Third place: with 11,933 votes, the department of Buenaventura, which received a media plan package worth $40 million for the promotion of the destination.
• Second place: Boyacá, with a total of 16,369 votes. The department received a media plan for tourism promotion for $80 million.
• First place: Caquetá, which received 16,581 votes from those attending the event. As a prize, the department will obtain financing for the development of its stand at the Anato 2026 Tourist Showcase, which includes the rental of the space, design, assembly, and disassembly, for a value of up to $200 million.

The Anato 2025 Tourism Showcase not only exceeded expectations in terms of participation and completed business but also reaffirmed the role of tourism as a key driver for the country’s economy. With a clear commitment to sustainability, inclusion, and innovation, Colombia continues to consolidate itself as a leading destination in the region.

The positive results of this edition show that articulated work between the public and private sectors is the key to strengthening the industry and positioning the “Country of Beauty” in the global tourism scenario.

Headline Image credit: ANATO.

As part of its commitment to excellence and the growth and development of the best local talent, Avianca held a new edition of the Avianca Maintenance Masters Competition at its maintenance facility located at the José María Córdova international airport in Rionegro, Antioquia.

Every year, this contest aims to select the team that will represent the airline and all of Colombia in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC).This year, it will be held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The selection of the teams was carried out in two stages. In the first, the participants faced a series of technical tests that served as an initial filter. In the second, the qualified teams competed in the practical phase, which took place at the Aeronautical Maintenance Center (MRO) of Rionegro. There, the participants demonstrated their skills, testing their knowledge, skill, and ability to solve challenges in real conditions and record time.

The selected team, made up of Michael Trejos Cardona, Helbert Montes Zuluaga, Juan Pablo Bernal Rodríguez, Orlando Lozano Henao, and Jorge Andrés Campo, will soon arrive at the Aerospace Maintenance Competition 2025 to represent Avianca and all of Colombia. This competition will bring together commercial, general, military, and educational aviation teams in a circuit of tests designed to evaluate technical skills in aeronautical maintenance.

“The Aerospace Maintenance Competition is a world-class scenario that allows us to demonstrate the quality and technical level of our equipment. Through Avianca Maintenance Masters, we select the best aeronautical maintenance talent to compete with professionals from around the world, reaffirming our commitment to safety and innovation in the industry,” said Francisco Lalinde, Avianca’s Vice President of Engineering and Maintenance.

What’s New in 2025: Opportunities for Emerging Talent

This year, in line with its commitment to training new talents, Avianca included an amateur category in the competition. In this modality, students from aeronautical maintenance schools and faculties were able to participate and live the experience of the competition.

With this initiative, Avianca seeks to strengthen the connection with future generations of technicians and open opportunities for those who wish to venture into an exciting industry such as aviation.

Photo credit: Avianca.

Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) has confirmed that on February 5, 2025, it completed the transaction with Repsol Colombia Oil & Gas Limited to acquire the remaining 45% of its participation in the CPO-09 Block, for an amount of $452 million USD, making it the holder of 100% of the participation interest in the block, a strategic asset in the Piedemonte Llanero. This transaction is the result of the exercise of the right of first refusal by Ecopetrol within the framework of the Joint Operation Agreement (JOA).

The closing of this transaction occurred after the fulfillment of the following conditions:

• The determination made by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce of Colombia states that the transaction does not generate an undue restriction of competition, so it does not merit objection or conditioning, thus ending the administrative pre-evaluation process.
• The execution of the corresponding amendment to the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Contract CPO-09 on February 5, 2025, by the National Hydrocarbons Agency, Repsol, and Ecopetrol, formalized the transfer of the 45% of the participation interest that Repsol had in that agreement in favor of Ecopetrol.

The CPO-09 block is located in the department of Meta, Colombia, in the municipalities of Villavicencio, Acacias, Guamal, Castilla la Nueva, San Martín, Lejanias, El Dorado, El Castillo, and Granada.

This transaction strengthens Ecopetrol’s position in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Llanos Orientales basin. It consolidates its presence in the region as the operator of the Akacias, Chichimene, Castilla, Apiay, Suria, Libertad—Reforma, Pachaquiaro, and Caño Sur fields, among others. Likewise, it reaffirms its commitment to the country’s energy future, highlighting the importance of hydrocarbons as a key resource for developing energy transition projects, ensuring the country’s energy sustainability.

Photo credit: Ecopetrol.

The Colombian Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) has released its latest Data Flash report detailing fixed internet service quality across the country. The report evaluates user experiences using data collected through crowdsourcing methodologies and advanced analytical tools, covering the period from January 2018 to June 2024.

The publication aims to address information asymmetries by providing insights into the quality of services delivered by internet service providers (ISPs) across Colombia. Additionally, it benchmarks Colombia’s internet performance against 26 other countries. The report introduces innovative assessment tools, including the Quality of Experience Index (ICE) and the Game Score, which specifically evaluate online gaming performance.

Key Findings

Significant Increase in Internet Speeds

Between the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, Colombia experienced a notable improvement in fixed internet speeds:

• Download Speeds: Increased by 55.1%, reaching 147.1 Mbps by June 2024.
• Upload Speeds: Rose by 45.7%, reaching 49.5 Mbps.

Among providers, Movistar led with a download speed of 250.5 Mbps and an upload speed of 221.1 Mbps, followed by ETB, which also reported the lowest national latency at 6.7 milliseconds. Both companies demonstrated strong download-upload symmetry, largely attributable to the deployment of fiber-optic connections directly to end-users.

City Performance

Performance varied significantly across Colombian cities:

• Armenia recorded the fastest download speed at 206.79 Mbps.
• Bogotá achieved the highest upload speed at 93.95 Mbps and the best latency at 10.65 milliseconds.
• Cities such as Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Ibagué showed significant year-over-year improvements, surpassing their June 2023 metrics.

Quality of Experience Index (ICE)

The CRC’s ICE provides a comprehensive evaluation of fixed internet service quality across major Colombian cities. As of June 2024, Bogotá ranked first with an ICE score of 78.84, up from 55.21 in June 2023, reflecting a 23.63-point improvement. Other cities showing notable gains included:

Online Gaming Performance

The Game Score, developed by Ookla, evaluates the quality of online gaming experiences by analyzing metrics such as latency and connection stability. Movistar excelled in this category, leading in six top ten cities and placing second in the remaining towns.

Official Remarks

According to Lina María Duque Del Vecchio, Commissioner and Executive Director of the CRC, “The results presented highlight significant improvements in speed, latency, and symmetry, benefiting users and operators alike. These analyses reflect the CRC’s ongoing efforts to monitor communication services and encourage continuous improvement in service delivery across Colombia.”

The full Data Flash report provides detailed data disaggregated by ISP, department, city, and local districts, including Bogotá’s surrounding municipalities, Medellín’s communes, and the Valle de Aburrá region.

Photo credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In December 2024, imports of agricultural and agro-industrial products in Colombia were valued at $823 million USD including insurance and freight (CIF), which represented a decrease of 5.6% compared to the same month in 2023. This drop was mainly influenced by a reduction in imports of corn (-24.9%), soybeans (-59.4%), and sugar (-69.5%).

Throughout 2024, imports from the agricultural sector totaled $9.4 billion USD, which showed a decrease of 1.5% compared to the previous year. The main factors of the fall in value were the reduction in imports of corn (-15.4%), soybean cake (-18.5%), and coffee (-55.2%). In terms of volume, in December 2024, the sector’s imports reached 1,355,249 tons, which represented a decrease of 7.8% compared to December 2023. The cause of this drop was the reduction in imports of corn (-23.5%), soybeans (-49.7%), and rice (-93.9%).

However, in cumulative terms for the year 2024, imports increased by 9.0% in volume, reaching 15,498,533 tons, mainly due to the increase in imports of corn (8.4%), ethyl alcohol (70.2%), and wheat (8.1%). This year saw the highest imports in volume of agricultural and agro-industrial products.

Dora Inés Rey, acting director of the UPRA, highlighted: “Despite the fall in some imports, the general result is positive, with a significant surplus in the trade balance of the agricultural sector. This surplus reflects the strength of our production and the country’s capacity to generate high-quality agro-industrial products. From the UPRA, we continue to support policies that strengthen the competitiveness of the sector and its relationship with international markets.”

The trade balance of the agricultural sector in 2024 presented a surplus of $2,732 million FOB, 129.1% higher than the surplus recorded in 2023. However, in volume, a deficit of 9.77 million tons was reported, an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year.

Photo credit: Rural Agricultural Planning Unit – UPRA.

Overall, it continues on the depressing side with continued violence between armed gangs, a stagnated reform process, continued cabinet changes, and the obvious concerns over the orange man’s demonic behavior in Washington, although libertarians in Colombia fail to see the irony in their support of President Donald Trump. But that’s for another day.

Today, good news only. Let’s chat about Colombia’s continued home run, tourism. Whilst Gustavo Petro was only picking up the baton of the upward curve that had existed since COVID-19 finished, he strongly declared that tourism would eventually replace commodities in terms of dollar revenues and was the fastest form to lift needy communities out of poverty.

Last year saw (tourism) dollar revenues hit $10 billion USD, not quite at commodity level, but closing very fast, and Colombia is only just beginning to realize it’s enormous potential as a desirable destination. The United Nations has also supported globally the concept of decreasing poverty via tourism, and there is a huge drive to push that campaign forward.

This week, ANATO Vitrina Turistica, the largest tourism fair in the region, took place in Bogotá. A total of 5,000 companies were represented across 46 countries with 50,000 attendees. I was there, and the pavilions were hopping; at times, it was like New Year’s in Times Square. Equally, at FITUR in Madrid a month ago, Colombia was in play.

2024 was a record year, and already, 2025 is set to surpass those numbers. In January, international airline arrivals increased by 13% to 2,254,000. Attendees at ANATO also reported a healthy start to the year.

But it will not be Medellín or Cartagena that will be the forward-looking driver. Instead, it will smaller towns and villages as visitors locally join the international tendency to seek more adventurous destinations. Some future hotspots haven’t been heard of by most Colombians, let alone by those arriving from overseas.

When will it match oil & coal? Judging by the vibes in the pavilions, it will possibly be sooner than expected, but in an ideal world, both will continue in rude health.

In other news. From Fedesarrollo, there was an improvement in both industrial and retail confidence, this dovetails with the recent consumer reading.

The government also announced that it had carved out 69 sectors, spread across 270 square kilometers, for future offshore eolic energy auctions—that’s wind power to us mere mortals.

Always good to end on the positives.

Have a great Friday.

Regards Roops.

Never miss Rupert’s latest commentary.
Follow him now on LinkedIn to see What Jumps Out.

Photo credit: wjgomes from Pixabay.

Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) said in a statement that on February 24, 2025, Moody’s reported the results of its periodic review of Ecopetrol’s rating, maintaining its global credit rating at Ba1 with a stable outlook. Similarly, the individual rating remains at b1.

Moody’s noted that the global rating of ‘Ba1’ reflects the company’s status as the main producer of oil and gas in Colombia, with approximately 60% of the country’s production, its significant energy transmission business in Colombia and other Latin American countries, and the solid and stable cash flow in its subsidiaries Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. E.S.P. and Cenit SAS.

The rating agency highlighted the increase in production and the reduction of the balance of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC), which supports Ecopetrol’s liquidity. It also mentioned that Moody’s expects that Ecopetrol’s financial obligations will continue to be supported by access to global and Colombian capital markets and government support.

Photo credit: Ecopetrol.