Sustainable Tourism

Top 10 Most Sustainable Destinations: According to Booking, Santa Marta ranks as the 4th most sustainable travel destination worldwide and the 3rd in Latin America.

Additionally, Santa Marta is Colombia’s number one city in tourist accommodation offerings.

Two Blue Flag-Certified Beaches: Santa Marta is the only city in Colombia with two beaches holding this environmental sustainability certification: Playa Blanca and Bello Horizonte.  

+1,640,000 Visitors: Over the past three years, more than 1.64 million visitors have explored Santa Marta’s natural parks. Tayrona National Natural Park is the **second most visited park in Colombia.  

Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta: Both national Parks  have been declared UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

  • A Biodiversity Hotspot: Santa Marta is home to 202 bird species, including 29 endemic species. This represents 35% of Colombia’s bird species and 7% of the world’s birds.
  • A Top Destination for International Visitors: Santa Marta ranks as the 7th most visited destination in Colombia by international travelers. In 2024, the city welcomed 60,386 foreign visitors.
  • Cruise Tourism: In 2024, 20 international cruise ships visited Santa Marta, bringing over 5,697 passengers to the city. 
  • Business & Meetings Tourism: Santa Marta ranks 6th nationally as a top destination for business and meetings tourism.

Tourism highlights

The department of Magdalena has 4 protected areas constituted as national natural parks (Tayrona, Sierra Nevada, Ciénaga Grande, Isla Salamanca.

Santa Marta is home to two of the largest natural reserves in the country (Tayrona and Sierra Nevada).

ayrona National Natural Park: A Leading Ecotourism Destination

In 2023, Tayrona National Natural Park welcomed 637,534 visitors, making it the second most visited ecotourism-protected area in Colombia.

Tayrona National Park accounts for 40.5% of all tourists visiting Colombia’s national parks.