Santander, located in the Eastern Andes of Colombia, is characterized by its vast geography, as well as the history and culture of its heritage towns, with typical and unparalleled activities found only in this area. Its capital is Bucaramanga, and it is popularly known as the city of parks or the beautiful city of Colombia. It is part of the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga, where you can also find the municipalities of Floridablanca, Piedecuesta, and Girón, which stand out for their excellent hotel infrastructure and supply for events.
- Population of Santander: around 2.36 million inhabitants.
- Average temperature of Santander: 21-24ºC – 69.8-75.2ºF.
Incentive Travel
Can you imagine rewarding your employees with a helicopter tour of the Chicamocha Canyon, ending with a dinner on the edge of the mountain? This, and much more, is possible in Santander and the surroundings of Bucaramanga. The tourist offer in this area of Colombia is designed for all types of travelers: you can do everything from bird watching, cycling, agrotourism, and trekking, to participating in wellness, adventure, history, culture, and nature tourism experiences, among many others.
Santander is a department known for its gastronomy, which includes culinary delights from the region (mute, cabro, dried meat, corn arepas), pastries, exotic fruits, and more.
Some tourist products that you can find in Bucaramanga and its nearby destinations are:
- Cultural: visit local museums like the Bolivar House Museum or the Bucaramanga Museum of Modern Art. You can organize tours through the city's historic center, adorned with beautiful churches and colonial architecture. In Santander, towns like Barichara are cultural destinations par excellence, with cobblestone streets and colonial architecture that can be explored during cultural tours.
- Nature: your trip can include excursions to places like the Chicamocha Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world, where participants can enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, paragliding, and rafting. Santander is famous for its mountainous landscapes and waterfalls. Hiking and adventures in nature in places like Juan Curi and the Gallineral Park can be unforgettable experiences.
- Heritage destination: Barichara is the ideal destination: its cobblestone streets, colonial churches, and well-preserved architecture provide a unique heritage destination experience. Just three hours from Bucaramanga, you can live unforgettable experiences by participating in various workshops such as stone workshop, rammed earth, earth painting, and fique paper making, among others.
- Adventure: Santander is known as the epicenter of adventure in Colombia. Travelers can enjoy exciting experiences like paragliding over the Chicamocha Canyon, rappelling in the waterfalls of Juan Curi, mountain biking on the region's trails, and spelunking in the caves of Cachalú. San Gil, in particular, offers a wide range of adventure options, from cave spelunking to bungee jumping.
- Health and wellness: Bucaramanga also offers options for wellness and relaxation. Incentive trips can include visits to spas like Parque Acuamanía and Parque Acualago, where participants can enjoy hot springs and spa treatments. Additionally, there are options for yoga and meditation retreats in serene natural environments.
Congresses and Conventions
Bucaramanga is the ideal place for holding congresses and trade fairs, with an ideal offer for generating unforgettable experiences. The area benefits from high connectivity thanks to Palonegro International Airport, which has direct routes to 13 domestic destinations and three international destinations to Panama City, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, allowing connection to more than 70 international destinations.
The capital of Santander can accommodate up to 5,000 people visiting the city for meetings, incentives, exhibitions, or conferences. To complement the travel experience in the region, a wide cultural and tourist offer can be found, allowing you to combine your congresses with all kinds of experiences. Thus, by 2022, Santander received 18,547 non-resident foreign visitors and 28,681 international air passengers.
Bucaramanga and its metropolitan area offer competitive rates in logistical supply for events, hotels, transportation, and restaurants, with high-quality standards, allowing companies to carry out high-level conventions and exhibitions, complemented by tourist experiences within the city.
Events
Bucaramanga and its metropolitan area have a diverse geography perfect for hosting all kinds of sports events such as: road cycling, golf, shooting, rhythmic gymnastics, futsal, tejo, basketball, soccer, athletics, softball, swimming, synchronized swimming, track cycling, tennis, BMX, artistic gymnastics, table tennis, equestrian, sailing, water skiing, rowing, and mountain biking.
A special and noteworthy case is golf. Bucaramanga is an ideal destination for the practice of this sport; it has three golf courses, one of them designed by the American Jack Nicklaus, with a unique location, where golfers can play on the edge of the Chicamocha Canyon. The golf courses are characterized by topographic diversity and extensive mountainous geography, which gives them a particular natural beauty that contrasts with the mountain range area and the warm plains of the region.
Supported by this infrastructure for quality events, the department of Santander has been the venue for important sports events such as the Men's Futsal World Cup (2016), the Tokyo Pre-Olympic Games (2020), PGA TOUR Latinoamérica (2021 and 2022), the Giro de Rigo (2021), and the Women's America's Cup (2022).
Featured Locations for Your Event
Traditional Locations
Fairground and Convention Center
1. CENFER - Bucaramanga Fair and Events Center:
- Located in the municipality of Girón, part of the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga.
- Availability of two pavilions, one multipurpose and one for exhibitions.
- Additional hall with capacity for 700 people.
- Maximum capacity: 3,500 PAX.
2. Neomundo Convention Center:
- Its strategic location in the heart of the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area makes it the ideal setting for hosting all kinds of events.
- In its surroundings are the Cacique Shopping Center, the largest in the capital of Santander, and the International Holiday Inn Hotel.
- Just 30 minutes from Palonegro International Airport.
- It has an area of 19,000 square meters, with 7 multifunctional rooms and 4 outdoor spaces.
- Its capacity is 8,000 people, in simultaneous occupancy.
- It has a covered parking service with capacity for 400 vehicles.
Non-traditional Locations ![Bucaramanga Country Club]()
- Located in an exclusive condominium on the outskirts of Bucaramanga.
- Elegant and versatile spaces both indoors and outdoors.
- Maximum capacity: 300 PAX.
2. Club Campestre de Bucaramanga:
- It features three versatile halls for all types of indoor events and a terrace for outdoor events.
- Located 20 minutes from the city center.
- Availability of a golf course and a hotel within its facilities.
3. Cámara de Comercio de Bucaramanga:
- Located in the city center.
- It has eight rooms with a maximum capacity of up to 210 participants.
4. Ecoparque Cerro el Santísimo:
- Located on Cerro La Judía, where visitors will have the best view of the city.
- Located in the municipality of Girón.
- This place specializes in weddings. It stands out for its panoramic view of the city, its romantic architecture, and its ability to adapt to different types of events.
Hotels
Bucaramanga and its metropolitan area offer more than 3,600 beds available to welcome visitors in accommodations ranging from 3 to 5 stars, with all the infrastructure, logistics, service, and necessary support to satisfy their guests. The hotel offer in Bucaramanga and the department of Santander has experienced a significant growth in recent years due to the increase in tourism and business travel.
The city has a variety of mid-range hotels that offer adequate amenities and services for business travelers and tourists. The city also has luxury and high-end hotels that offer superior quality accommodation, spas, gourmet restaurants, and high-quality services for those seeking a first-class lodging experience. There are also hotels designed specifically for business visitors, with facilities, meeting rooms, and services for executives.
In Santander, you will find hostels, boutique hotels, guesthouses in restored old houses, and adventure resorts for those who wish to explore outdoor activities in the region.
Highlighted Activities for Your Event
Let your body fill with excitement as you traverse the Chicamocha Canyon:
- Where: Chicamocha Canyon.
- Duration of the tour: one hour by land.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 54 km.
- Description: The cable car of the Chicamocha National Park is characterized by its length, view, and height. You will enjoy a spectacular panorama where you will contemplate the immensity of the Canyon on a 6.3 km journey from the starting point in the park to its arrival at La Mesa de los Santos. During the tour, you will ascend and descend over the Chicamocha River, observing the vegetation and animals of the area.
Accelerate your heartbeat with new experiences in Colombia's largest canyon with Team Building:
- Where: Chicamocha Canyon.
- Duration of the tour: one hour by land.
- Duration of the activity: one day.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 54 km.
- Description: The Chicamocha National Park has become over time the main tourist attraction in the entire region. Some highlighted cultural areas include: the Monument to Santanderean Identity, the Guane Museum, the interactive and exhibition room, and the auditorium. There are also attractions such as the cable flight, buggies, jumping, slides, human ball, and extreme swing. You can also enjoy the Goat Park, Ostrich Park, and the 360° viewpoint located at the end of the tour.
Where colonial times come alive in the streets, you can live a great adventure:
- Where: San Gil.
- Duration of the tour: 2 hours by land.
- Duration of the activity: one day.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 97 km.
- Description: You can tour the historic center of San Gil while appreciating its colonial architecture and classic balconies, the "Royal Roads," and the bridges of El Gallineral Park, which is located on the banks of the Fonce River. This municipality is known as the capital of extreme sports: you can do adventure activities such as canoeing or rafting, and cable flight. You can also engage in sports such as paragliding, spelunking, hiking, horseback riding, canyoning, and rappelling, among others.
More than 300 years of tradition among cobbled streets to turn you into an artisan: ![Basket weaving in Barichara, Colombia]()
- Where: Barichara.
- Duration of the tour: 3 hours by land.
- Duration of the activity: one and a half days.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 120 km.
- Description: Barichara offers the possibility of becoming an artisan, learning an ancestral technique that gathers the heritage memories of the town of Guane. From stone and ceramic carving, to weavings, and consecratory necklaces, painting workshops on earth, stamped clay workshop, natural fiber paper making, typical culinary classes, and other traditional crafts. In addition to this, you can engage in nature activities such as trekking along the Lengerke route, horseback riding, bike rides, coffee tours, and wellness activities.
Indulge in the flavors of origin coffee while learning about its production at Hacienda El Roble:
![Hacienda El Roble, Mesa de los Santos, Colombia]()
Where: Mesa de los Santos.
- Duration of the tour: one hour.
- Duration of the activity: 4 hours.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 39 km.
- Description: Hacienda El Roble is a renowned coffee farm in Mesa de los Santos that produces organic coffee grown under shade. During the activity, you can visit emblematic places such as the garden where 78 coffee varieties are found, the ecological processing plant, participate in a coffee tasting workshop, and end with a delicious typical lunch, made in a wood-fired stove.
Enjoy a space where ecotourism and water activities are the main attraction:
- Where: Hidrosogamoso Dam.
- Duration of the tour: about an hour and a half.
- Duration of the activity: 4 hours.
- Distance from Bucaramanga: 60 km.
- Description: take a boat ride on the Hidrosogamoso reservoir, a 7,000-hectare water mirror, where you will be accompanied by music up to the containment wall and visit waterfalls bordering the reservoir. After the boat ride, the activity ends with a typical lunch.
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