Santa Marta (Colombia), November 10 (EFE) .- For the opening of the XVIII Bolivarian Games of Santa Marta, from this Saturday, the hotel guild expects the arrival of more than 25 thousand visitors.

The president of the Santa Marta branch of the Hotel and Tourism Association of Colombia (Cotelco), Omar García, told Efe today that for this festive bridge in the country, when the sports jousting begins "the city will be above 80% occupancy, that is to say, it will house about 25 thousand people.

The union leader highlighted that" only the Bolivarian Games, among delegations, judges, directors of Coldeportes, directors of the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) and Bolivarian Sports Organization (Odebo), we are sure that will be more than five thousand people, which will be added visitors. "

" As the week goes by, we will have many more because the tours of schools that have chosen to Santa Marta in the framework of the Bolivarian Games ", added Garcia, who explained that these figures do not include illegal establishments dedicated to tourism.

He said that together with The National Federation of Merchants of Colombia (Fenalco) is advancing a study of how much money the Games will leave to the city's economy, given the significant flow of visitors.

"Remember that it is not just the hotels, but the transportation, the gastronomy establishments, the shopping centers, the taxis and other actors in the value chain of tourism, because tourists' money goes to many pockets, "he said.

Omar Garcia was also optimistic about what will come after the Bolivarian Games because" they will help the promotion of the destination in the different countries that will participate, since opening doors is much easier when they have already spoken of Santa Marta in those countries. "

Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and host Colombia as members of the Odebo, as well as El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic as guests are the countries participants.

The XVIII Bolivarian Games of Santa Marta will take place from November 11 to 25 and will open the Olympic cycle that will end in Tokyo 2020.