Medellín tourism numbers: visitors, airport traffic and occupancy

International arrivals at Medellín's airport reached 2,059,183 in 2025, 48.6% more than in 2022 ^[1]. In 2026 that growth slowed to 5.4% for January to July ^[2], and city hotel occupancy averaged 59.0% in the first half, 6.6 points below a year earlier ^[3].

If you are thinking about buying an apartment to rent to visitors, these are the numbers you will be shown most often. They are real, but each one counts something specific, and the headline figure is easy to misread. This page sets out what the official sources report, for which period, and what each figure does and does not measure.

What "arrivals" actually counts

The arrivals figure comes from SITE, the city's tourism observatory, using Migración Colombia data. It counts people who enter Colombia through the migration checkpoint at José María Córdova airport in Rionegro ^[1]. That means international arrivals only. It is not the airport's passenger traffic.

The airport's total traffic is much larger, because most of it is domestic. Our sum of Aerocivil's 2025 route tables gives roughly 14.2 million passengers on board, about 10.1 million domestic and 4.1 million international ^[8]. That is about seven times the arrivals figure. El Colombiano reported in January 2026 that the airport closed 2025 with more than 14 million passengers ^[11]. Treat the total as approximate: it is our own sum, and the press figures vary.

The second point matters even more. SITE splits arrivals into residents and "non-resident visitors", and the Alcaldía defines non-resident visitors as Colombians or foreigners who do not live in the city ^[7]. So a non-resident visitor can be a Colombian who lives in Miami or Madrid and flies home for Christmas. It is not a count of foreign tourists. In 2025, 58.1% of arrivals were non-resident visitors ^[1].

A third figure sometimes appears beside these. Migración Colombia recorded 2,208,924 movements by foreigners at the airport in 2025, second in Colombia after El Dorado in Bogotá ^[10]. That counts entries and exits together, so it is not a visitor count and it does not compare with SITE's arrivals.

Arrivals grew in 2025

Full-year arrivals rose from 1,385,673 in 2022 to 2,059,183 in 2025 ^[1]. The non-resident share rose over the same years, from 55.0% to 58.1% ^[1]. December 2025 alone brought 221,803 arrivals ^[1].

The United States was the largest country of origin in 2025. SITE's year-end report counts 400,492 visitors from the United States, followed by Panama with 154,984 ^[1]. An Alcaldía release in June 2026 gave lower figures for the same year, 310,517 and 152,373, with the same order ^[6]. The Alcaldía reported that 73% of tourists arriving through the airport in 2025 said they were staying in Antioquia ^[6].

Growth slowed in 2026

The first half of 2026 was the first time arrivals passed one million in a first half, at 1,003,756 ^[3]. That compares with 593,431 in the first half of 2022 ^[4].

The pace has eased, though. January to July 2026 arrivals were 1,208,763, up 5.4% on the same months of 2025 ^[2]. June 2026 brought 167,530 arrivals against 175,545 in June 2025, a fall of 4.6% ^[3]. July recovered slightly, at 204,991 against 201,925 a year earlier ^[2].

The mix also shifted. The non-resident share fell to 54.1% in the first half of 2026, its lowest level since 2022, down from 59.3% in the first half of 2025 ^[4]. SITE attributes most of that fall to fewer non-resident Colombians ^[4].

Hotel occupancy has fallen

SITE's hotel figures come from Cotelco, the hotel association, and cover hotels in the city of Medellín ^[1]. On that measure, average occupancy was 77.0% in 2022, 72.6% in 2023 and 68.1% in 2024, and settled near 66% in 2025 ^[1]. Foreigners made up 67% of hotel guests ^[1].

The first half of 2026 averaged 59.0%, 6.6 points below the first half of 2025, with June the lowest month at 51.6% ^[3][4]. By zone, Laureles ran at 61.4% and El Poblado at 60.7% in that half ^[3]. In 2025 Laureles was also slightly ahead, at 70.1% against 68.3% for El Poblado ^[1].

Short-term rentals ran lower than hotels. Using Asohost data, SITE reported 51.0% occupancy in 2024 and 51.7% in 2025 ^[1]. The Alcaldía reported 50.5% for the first half of 2026, down from 52.2% a year earlier ^[3].

On the supply side, registered tourist homes in the national tourism register fell from 8,710 to 8,322 between 2025 and 2026, a drop of 4.5% ^[4]. SITE notes that a fall in registrations does not necessarily mean closures ^[4]. What it takes to register and operate a rental is covered in short-term rental rules.

Two different occupancy measures

DANE, the national statistics agency, runs its own monthly hotel survey, and it reports for the department of Antioquia rather than the city. Its provisional figure for July 2026 was 50.9%, against 54.3% in July 2025 ^[9]. DANE's sample and geography differ from Cotelco's city figures, so the two levels should not be compared directly. Both show occupancy lower in 2026 than in 2025 ^[3][9]. Whenever you see an occupancy figure, check whether it is DANE for Antioquia or Cotelco and SITE for Medellín.

The numbers at a glance

Metric	Figure	Period	Source
International arrivals, airport migration checkpoint	2,059,183	2025	[1]
Growth in arrivals	+48.6%	2022 to 2025	[1]
International arrivals	1,208,763 (+5.4%)	January to July 2026	[2]
Non-resident visitor share of arrivals	54.1%	First half 2026	[4]
Airport passengers on board, all routes	About 14.2 million (approximate)	2025	[8]
Hotel occupancy, Medellín (Cotelco)	59.0%	First half 2026	[3]
Hotel occupancy, Antioquia (DANE, provisional)	50.9%	July 2026	[9]
Short-term rental occupancy (Asohost)	50.5%	First half 2026	[3]
Registered tourist homes	8,322 (-4.5%)	2026	[4]

What you may hear

You may see a figure of 1,491,837 passengers at Medellín's airport, with 59.2% described as foreign tourists and growth of 12.2%. Those numbers come from a SITE bulletin, but they are international arrivals through the migration checkpoint for January to September 2025, not airport passengers ^[5]. The 59.2% is the non-resident visitor share, which includes Colombians who live abroad ^[5][7]. The 12.2% compares with the same months of 2024 ^[5]. The latest comparable growth figure is 5.4% for January to July 2026 ^[2], and the latest non-resident share is 54.1% for January to July 2026 ^[2].

You may also see counts of hotels or guest capacity for Laureles or Estadio specifically. SITE publishes tourism register figures for the city as a whole, not by neighbourhood ^[1], and we found no official source for a neighbourhood count.

For the other projects and figures people cite about Medellín property, see the invest hub.