Candelaria celebrated World Travel Journalist Day with a forward-looking vision and major projects

As part of the celebration of World Travel Journalist Day, Dr. Jesica Vallejos, Mayor of Candelaria, led an official event on Friday evening at the Hacienda Provenza Hotel, where the municipality's future plans in tourism, culture, and infrastructure were presented.

In her speech, the mayor highlighted the role of the World Travel Journalism Organization (WTJO) in raising the international profile of the town.Today, Candelaria is already on the map thanks to the WTJO. That visibility led to the historic decision to create the Secretariat of Tourism on January 1, 2025,” said Vallejos.

The mayor also emphasized the success of local celebrations such as the Lechona Festival and the Cholado Festival, the latter celebrating its fourth edition this year, consolidating itself as a hallmark of cultural and gastronomic identity. She also underscored Candelaria’s strategic location,just fifteen minutes from Palmira Airport and twenty minutes from Cali,which favors the arrival of more national and international tourists.

Among the infrastructure and tourism development projects presented were:

• Improving internal connectivity to strengthen rural tourism.

• Leveraging Candelaria’s status as one of the safest municipalities in Colombia as a key competitive advantage.

• Enhancing the Juanchito River with the construction of a boardwalk featuring three docks, a permanent tourist boat, and a scenic viewpoint complementing a future salsa museum.

• Building a new stadium to attract sports tourism and host professional teams.

• Constructing a hospital with second- and third-level services to ensure care for both residents and visitors.

• Opening multi-campus university and technical centers to link education with academic tourism.

• Renovating town squares and parks, including nature trails with native flora and awareness campaigns about regional species.

• Promoting religious tourism, aiming for the local church to be designated as a minor basilica.

• Mayor Vallejos concluded by stating that all these efforts aim to build a different kind of tourism in the region,one based on identity, sustainability, culture, and safety,positioning Candelaria as a national and international benchmark.

• With this event, the city not only honored travel journalists on their special day, but also reaffirmed its commitment to growing as an innovative and competitive destination in Colombia.