Trinidad & Tobago to Attend Colombia´s Top Travel Fair for the First Time

The 24th edition of ANATO, Colombia´s number-one tourism marketplace, will get cracking on February 28 at the Corferias Fairgrounds in Bogota, featuring the debut attendance of Trinidad & Tobago.

The event is planned on a yearly basis with the participation of several countries and welcomes entrepreneurs willing to cash in on this opportunity to enhance business contacts among themselves. For the first time ever, this year´s edition will have an official delegation from Trinidad & Tobago, the neighboring islands that will flaunt a broad array of travel destinations.

The flow of Colombian travelers to Trinidad & Tobago grew 8 percent in 2004. Experts believe the proximity of the islands and the no-visa-required status for Colombian sunbathers make the hop to this marvelous Caribbean destination a breeze, said Indiana Monteverde, chief of Caribbean Adventures and official representative of the Trinitarian Tourism Department to Latin America.

ANATO came into being nearly a quarter of a century ago and pretty soon evolved into one of Latin America´s major travel tradeshows, luring roughly 600 exhibitors from some thirty nations and other parts of Colombia every year.

In 2004, ANATO drew as many as 6,000 attendants, including exhibitors, visitors, buyers, journalists and members of different organizations. For this year´s edition, organizers are expecting of more massive turnout and so have laid out nearly 70,000 square feet of exhibition space -up 28.5 percent from 2004- scattered in three business pavilions and one service pavilion that will harbor 500 stands and booths.

The number of outbound Colombians jumped a solid 14 percent in 2004 compared to the year before.