From Colombia with Love: A Journey of Culture and Connection

Tourism, Sustainability & Colombia’s Diversity with Maria Lacouture (AmCham Colombia)

Maria Lacouture, director of AmCham Colombia, explains how the nonprofit strengthens business ties between Colombia and the U.S., including tourism, through work with more than 970 American and Colombian companies. She shares how travel builds cultural understanding and adaptability, clarifies the misconception that AmCham handles visas, and describes current goals such as promoting Colombia in Washington, D.C. Lacouture highlights Colombia’s core tourism value—diversity across environments, culture, music, and gastronomy—and notes sector growth and professionalization since tourism policy efforts began in 2006, including over four million non-resident visitors last year. She emphasizes sustainable tourism as a balance of economic, social, and environmental development requiring coordination, investment, training, community participation, and long-term planning, alongside marketing that communicates human connection. She closes with the idea that tourism must be both high-tech and high-touch, with AI supporting decisions while the heart remains human.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Hi, how are you? Good morning. How are you?

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Thank you for your time. And I do apologize for changing the last meeting that we have. Sorry for that.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Don't worry about it. Working in an industry like tourism and like economic development, it means we have to be flexible.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

My name is Maria Lacuture. I'm the director of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, Amchem Colombia.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

So for folks who are not familiar with Amchem Colombia, what does the organization do and how is it related to the tourism space?

SPEAKER_03 1:05

We are a nonprofit organization, and what we do is to strengthen the relation between Colombia and the U.S. in every single area of business, including tourism. We work with our affiliates in Colombia. There are more than 970 American and Colombian companies. And we work very tightly with them in areas of business, government relations, opportunities, in order to have more relations between the two countries, between the business community.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

What has been your favorite day at work?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Oh, my favorite network.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Your favorite day at work.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Oh, my favorite day at work. All of them. I really enjoy working. What do you love about it? Well, I have been able to know people to learn to create a group of co-workers to do something different every single day and to travel.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

In what ways do you think travel has helped you be better at your job?

SPEAKER_03 2:12

When you travel, you learn about not only how to be efficient with the time, but also to learn cultures, to learn the communities, to learn ways of doing things, creative innovations, anything that every single travel will bring you. That's something that you learn, and that's something that I'm more than willing to learn as well, and to be able to adapt and to be able to understand those changes. I enjoy travel a lot.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

What do you think is the greatest misconception about your work?

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Misconception. Believe that we do visas.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

No, you can't give me a visa.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

No, I cannot. People believe that we are a visa company, but we're not. That will be more than glad to help people to do that, but we aren't able to do it.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

What does success look like in your role over the next year or so?

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Well, I believe that success is what you believe is your goals more than anything else. So for me, success at being able to do what I was planning and have my goals comply. So part of what I've been working on is regarding how I can do and achieve my goals. And in that way, that will be success for me.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

What are two or three of the goals that are top of mind for you this week?

SPEAKER_03 3:44

There are many, actually. One is to uh get uh a very good meal in a different restaurant. I'm a foodie person, so I really enjoy when I travel to be able to visit a good restaurant and enjoy a good meal with a good partner. Another goal is to be able to promote our country in the US. I'm actually at Washington, and for the past two weeks, I've been here in a business agenda with different companies and also with government entities. And part of my goal is to achieve that agenda completely and be able to promote Colombia and being able to bring some opportunities to the country.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

What do you think are the greatest opportunities, the low-hanging fruit, the things that you can accomplish most efficiently and effectively in the short term?

SPEAKER_03 4:40

One that we have been able to do is to create business, to increase the opportunities for the business community in Colombia and in the US. And those are the most important so far at this moment for this week.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

There is a fighter jet flying over my head.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

That's fine.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

That doesn't happen to me very often.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

So I travel all the time. You can hear it? Yes, I do. I actually do. So I travel all the time. Wow. Where are you located? Portland work. Oh that's nice.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

I travel all the time. So right behind me is actually the inside of my bus, my motorcoach. Oh wow. So I spent three and a half years traveling throughout North and Central America in a van. Wow. And then one year ago, I switched from the van to a very large bus. It has a fireplace, it has a dish machine and a dryer so I can do my laundry. It's very fancy.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

It's really big.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

It's pretty big.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

I cannot show that to my husband because he always wanted to be in a motor cart. And I denied to do that.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

No way. Well, I'm not somebody that loves camping like starting a fire and being outside all day and getting bit by bugs. Like but I have a very nice stove and I have an oven and I can cook a fantastic meal, and then I can put all the dishes in the dishwasher, push a button, and they're all washed. So this is my version of camping. It's a good version, but not for me. Not for empty. Yeah, there is a nice way to do it. But yeah, it's been a great adventure. And what is your ideal vacation like?

SPEAKER_03 6:35

Well, it depends because I love to go different places. I really enjoy travel. And I look for any occasion to do that to travel. So the ideal is to take my suitke and go in a plane and move. So any place that I can go for me is an ideal place. I really enjoy everywhere to know cultures, to know the places, to know the food, to know how things are done. And I love to learn while I'm traveling. So any place could be good.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

What do you think are a couple things about Colombia that might surprise destination professionals who work on promoting tourism in the US and Canada? What might they be surprised by?

SPEAKER_03 7:22

I have worked previously as country image and tourism promotion, and I learned that our country brand is not only something that you can see from one phrase that can be united in one word that is diversity. What Colombia has to offer is a huge amount of diversity in every way. Colombia is a country that will provide you not with one experience, with many experiences. And you can find from everywhere that you go different environment, music, community, gastronomy, different type of culture. It can provide you with different proximity of what how we do and what is our history. So that is the most valuable proposition that we can provide to anyone that comes to Colombia is that in one place you will find a diversified experience that you cannot do in another country.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

How has the tourism sector grown or evolved over the last few years?

SPEAKER_03 8:33

It has evolved a lot. We have grown and we have actually made it up bit by bit more professional. Nowadays, it's very young if you look into the politics of tourism in Colombia. We started in 2006, meaning it's very young, the process of having a ministry regarding tourism and the policies that go beyond that. So since then, Colombia has been increasing. And last year, we have more than 4 million non-resident visitors to our country, which means an increase, very important increase from the past year. And part of what have been done is how we can move from the perception of being a country with insecurity, with a country that provides experience and a country that provides a real diversity in a place where you will find many things to do.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

How do you see it growing in the next couple of years?

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Colombia have a lot to offer still, and we're still in the process of increasing. So that means that the opportunities to increase is still open very wide. And what we need, as I mentioned in a book that I made, that is called Sustainable Tourism: 10 Things, 10 Tips to Achieve It, that we have to do it in a process that allows us to be plan, that we be able to not only believe of the number of counting the number of tourism that is getting into Colombia, how we can do it more professional, how we can build a stronger partnership with different countries, and how we can make the experience unforgettable for everyone that comes to our country. So part of what it should be done in Colombia is how we can move from a general promotion to a very specific promotion depending on the country that we are looking to bring tourism into our country. And also with the optimism that we have in the next few years, we need a consistent signal of security, stability, connectivity, and openness to investment. We can turn that optimism that we have into more visitors and more economic impact for the country.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

How did you become interested in sustainability?

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Coming into the tourism sector, I didn't plan it. I was more a commercial regarding business and services, but not tourism. Actually, I did not know much about tourism when I got into it. When you were in a place at the right moment with the right person, I was given the challenge to bring cruises to Colombia with a group of people. And at that time, this was more or less like in 2004. And at that time, sustainability was starting to be something very important for the sector. When I realized and I started to study how tourism got to be promoted, how got to be moved in order to bring more tourists to the countries, one of the issues that always pop up is sustainability. So that's why I started in 2004 studying sustainability. And since we were so young in being part of the tourism sector as a country, one of the things that I start to move forward is how we can do it right, how we can learn from what other countries have passed by, and how we can start promoting and developing the policies that allow us to have a tourism that stays for longer.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

In what ways has the definition of sustainability changed since 2004 to today?

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Yeah, I have changed a lot, but I have to say that I still believe that sustainability has to be the balance between the economic development, the social development, and the environmental development. No one better than the other one, or more to one to the other one. I do believe the balance of the three. If you don't have uh business development, if you don't have an economic impact, you would not be able to sustain sustainability. If you don't have social development and that economic impact would impact the social as well, you would not have sustainability. And if you don't have environmental development and impact, you would conduct the tourism in a way that it will not be sustainable through the years, to the long term. So that's for me is how it maintained. However, I have to say that today sustainability requires more than good intentions. It required coordination, it required investment, it required training, community participation, and long-term vision. The future is not only more tourism, and that's one important thing, it is better tourism, more inclusive, more sustainable, more regional, and more connected to the well-being of communities. It cannot be a part of the community.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

That is such a beautiful answer. Thank you. I too studied when people don't see how they're all interactive. Yeah. Culture, nature, and profitability. To see that a newer destination may have a lot more flexibility in Indian sustainability initiatives than some more established destinations. Do you think that's true with Colombia?

SPEAKER_03 14:30

It is true. And it is more than true since we are very young in the process of tourism, like formally doing tourism, the opportunity that we have to do it right is huge. And that's why I insist in our country to plan, to develop, to introduce sustainability in each of the places that we are developing tourism. In order to develop a good planning, it has to be regarding the balance of the three definitions economic, social, and environment.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

What did I not ask you about that you wish I did?

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Well, lessons have been important for me in this process, actually. And I would say that one of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that build anything meaningful, you have to be with a group. It's not alone. And part of what have inspired me actually is the team or the different people that have been able to exchange and work together in the past year. Helping others to grow and listen from the voices have helped me to be able to improve and to be what I am actually. So one of the things that it have made me be a better person in tourists is learning about tourism is the necessity of a human context, the opportunity of a human context, and the development of each one once we have been able to learn from another person from other humans.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

So much of tourism marketing is on the visual, the beach, the mountains, the beautiful community in the neighborhood. And so much of it is about the food and the music and the art. How does one promote that human connection?

SPEAKER_03 16:32

One of the things that I've been working a lot is what would be that definition of marketing that have to be done in order to people understand diversity in our country? You can show it through different pictures like rivers, mountain, coffee, culture, heritage, many things can be put in a picture. But how do you put in a picture that sensibility from the human, the service, the nature that people care about things and how people are waiting in a very sensitive way from tourists to come to our country? So it's not an easy task where you're asking, but one of the things that allows you to do that is a mix between that picture with the music and the way people are talking and the way people will be able to show the hug, the kisses. We're a culture that when you get to Colombia, everybody kisses in the cheek. That's the way to salute, and that's something that for many other countries is that custom. So it's a way to show that we really believe and we really sense the opportunities to bring things to the human spectrum. That's a way that you can do it. Another way to do it is through examples. Most of what we have seen, and one way that we have done the promotion of tourism in my past work that I worked for the promotion agency of the country, and I was Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. And one way that we did it is that to bring to the places what we are, and to bring the experience from other people that were able to go into Colombia and allow them to feel through the perspective of the one that were telling the story how they failed in our country, how they experience our country. And that's another way to do it.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Would you like to ask me anything?

SPEAKER_03 18:42

What would be your best experience that you have?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

In what country just human kindness and to feel valued and appreciated when I'm in a destination is what really stands out. Whether that was in Mexico or when my car broke down, or it was in Canada when I was able to call a friend when I needed help with something in a garage, or being in Brazil and being invited to a holiday dinner with the ambassador, these opportunities to feel welcome, to feel appreciated, to feel valued. And I find that countries that are on the newer end of tourism development sometimes have a much greater appreciation for the individual visitor than those that are more seasoned.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

That's true. Have you been to Colombia?

SPEAKER_01 19:35

I have not yet. However, my in-laws are Colombian, my nephew is of Colombian.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Because that's part of our culture, is that the welcoming to everyone. And we used to have a promotion slogan that says that the only risk that you have to go to Colombia is that you want it to stay. So that's part of what we are actually.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

The risk is falling in love.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

That's another one. That is part of the risk of wanting to stay, is that you for some people they want to be able to find love, but also good people in love with the community.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Exactly with friends.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Friends, you will fall in love with everyone, and you will have very good friends that you can share experience.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

If folks want to learn more about your work or participate in some way with the great work that you're doing, how would they go about doing so? Do you have a website?

SPEAKER_03 20:31

I do have a website that is Maria Lacature, and they will find it on the internet as well. There, it's tourism-oriented. And the other one from my work is amshamcolumbia.ca. And they can also search the internet and they will find it both.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Fantastic. This has been a delightful conversation. I appreciate you sharing your time with me. I hope you have a wonderful week.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Thank you so much. If I can leave you with the last thought that I have in tourism, can I do that? Please. One of the things that I've been working a lot is that definitely we have to be able to get tourism involved with technology. But we cannot forget that tourism is high touch and high tech, which means the next generation has to understand both, not only technology, but also how we can promote, sell, measure, and manage tourism. And artificial intelligence can help you with the data, with the digital tools, we'd help you with design's better experience and make better decisions. But the heart of tourism will remain human. And people travel for experience, for stories, for service, for culture, for nature, and for connection. And we have to provide this information to the new generation of tourism professionals that they have to comply with technology, but also with the human part. They cannot forget about that.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

I appreciate you sharing it. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

No, thank you so much, Stephen. It was great to talk to you, and I hope to do it next time.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Have a good time in DC.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Thank you so much.