Open Passport 2025: The gaze of international travel journalism turns to Nariño

On August 26, 2025, the city of San Juan de Pasto, known as the Ciudad Sorpresa de Colombia, will host the prestigious international event Open Passport, organized by the World Travel Journalism Organization (WTJO).

  This event will bring together travel communicators and journalists from 27 countries, including attendees, judges, and nominees, who are already focusing their attention on Nariño, a region that represents the diverse, cultural, and natural heart of southern Colombia.

The countries represented in this edition include:

Argentina, Nepal, Ghana, Croatia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Australia, India, Nigeria, Austria, Chile, United Kingdom, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, United States, New Zealand, Ecuador, Brazil, Panama, Venezuela, and Germany, among others.  

More than an event, a multicultural and territorial experience

In addition to the main ceremony on August 26, Open Passport 2025 will include a tour from August 25 to September 7 through iconic places in Nariño and its surroundings, connecting journalists with the deep soul of the territory:

• Laguna de La Cocha: Colombia's second-largest lake and gateway to the Amazon.

• Isla La Corota: the smallest Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna in the country, an example of concentrated biodiversity.

• Sandoná: known as Ciudad Dulce and Artesanal, famous for its textiles and trapiches.

• Consacá: A historic corner of Colombia, a land of living memory.

• Ipiales and the Rumichaca Bridge: a point of connection with Ecuador and a symbol of the binational bond.

• Santuario de Las Lajas: one of the 7 wonders of Colombia, architecture and faith suspended in the abyss.

• Tulcán Cemetery (Ecuador): Cultural Heritage of the Nation, a sculptural garden of peace and art.

• Guachucal and Ospina: high altitude, agriculture, spirituality, and rural life in the deep south.

• And also: Candelaria, Valle del Cauca: land of poets, painters, and the legendary Juanchito by the banks of the Río Cauca.

Open Passport not only awards the most influential travel journalists of the year but also recognizes good practices, narratives, and values in the communication of responsible and transformative tourism.

According to Miguel Ledhesma, founder and president of WTJO: “This gathering is a celebration of the power of words when they travel, observe, respect, and transform. The fact that so many countries are converging in Nariño is proof that travel journalism can unite the world from the local level.”

Open Passport 2025 will undoubtedly be an experience that intertwines cultures, territories, and voices committed to a more humane, just, and conscious way of telling the story of tourism.