Thus, 21 Santanderean companies received training, received personalized technical and commercial advice and explored other ways to attract tourists from all over the world through the Santanderean coffee culture, special coffees, farms, haciendas and trails that are part of coffee municipalities.
“That the department is known for its coffee, that our crops and grains become a tourist attraction, that hotels and agencies begin to have our special coffee as a star component is what we are achieving with Sendero y Sombra. Not only have we found the tourist potential of our coffee farms to develop new income alternatives, but we have improved administrative, promotional, and legal knowledge on tourism issues to offer the best to those who visit us," says Liliana Caballero, owner of Café Hacienda. White House.
In 2017, when the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce created the Sendero y Sombra brand as a strategy to group and position the specialty coffees belonging to the Santander Café Cluster, it was possible to diversify the coffee economy through the development of new products.
Thanks to its good results, in 2021 the brand was registered with the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce and in this way, under that name, more initiatives arose with a view to increasingly promoting coffee in the region. Sendero y Sombra: agrotourism product is one of them.
"The differentiation and the various processes of sophistication have allowed us to continue positioning Santander coffee in international markets, betting on the productivity and competitiveness of our entrepreneurs," says María Alejandra Sampayo Guerrero, vice president of Global Growth and Sustainability of the CCB.
Thus, since January of this year and together with experts and specialized advisors, 11 coffee companies, seven hotels, two travel agencies and a business group made up of six restaurants, came together to learn, work hand in hand and bring out the potential department with a coffee, cultural and nature approach, with the main objective of consolidating tourist packages that position Santander as an unmissable coffee destination for locals and foreigners.
In this way, the companies that produce specialty coffee were able to identify tourist services and options that go beyond the finished product and learned how to turn this into products that add value to coffee and attract the attention of visitors, for example: coffee tastings. special, collection and roasting demonstrations, hiking, farms, among others.
For their part, the hotels and restaurants focused on learning in depth about the region's specialty coffees and how they can begin to promote it from their activity, betting on activities such as barista shows, tastings, new recipes, marketing and, in general, alliances. strategies with coffee companies.
Added to this, in the words of Nancy Calderón, manager of Santander al Extremo: "tourist agencies are part of Sendero y Sombra as channeling agents who receive the offer and have the task of showing it, we are the marketing of those agrotourism products that are consolidated . We have learned a lot about our coffee, we have connected with coffee companies and thanks to the project we reinforce the idea that Santander has many options because it is a biodiverse department and a great way to attract people is through our coffee”.
After going through the training, consulting and relationship processes among themselves, the participants of the initiative are currently working on the consolidation of agrotourism products and packages that will bring visitors closer to the region's coffee, but also to nature, gastronomy and Santander culture.
Some of them are already in their strategic stage and contemplate visits, day trips and walks in coffee farms, forest reserves, trails, historic areas and moors in the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga, Mesa de los Santos, Zapatoca, San Gil, Pinchote, Barichara , Curiti, among others.
They also include gastronomic tours, experiences such as coffee tasting, stays in hostels and hotels with great history in Santander and much more.
Particiapant enterprises:
Café Don Humbe, Café Loma Verde, Café Hacienda Casablanca, Comercializadora Lozpic, Bajo Sombra Café, Café Alfanía, Café Rancho Cielo, Mountain Coffee, Hotel Castillo Resort SAS, San Fernando Coffee, Finca Los Olivales, Hotel Ciudad Bonita, Santander al Extremo, Colombia Trails, Finca Buenos Aires, Hotel Terra Barichara, Almendra Posada Campestre, Hotel Dann Carlton, Ambrozía Café, Grupo Penthouse, Hotel San Juan Internacional.
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