Puerto Carreño Tourist Council: Destination Puerto Carreño

Puerto Carreño, Vichada 🇨🇴

The city, municipality, and the river in Eastern Colombia.

Discover Puerto Carreño ™

Colombia's First and Last Travel Destination

Starting Point for 1,000 Locations on the Great Orinoco River, 3,000 Hiking Trails, 5,000 km of Navigable Waterways more than a Tourism Gateway, Puerto Carreño is a Crossroads for Ecotourism; besides being the highlight of the Orinoco Basin, Puerto Carreño is also a Travel Destination on its own, with nearly 100 local tourist attractions being developed through the Vichada Sustainable Tourism Commission in the next three years. Puerto Carreño is where Colombia wakes up to start the day, there is no place in Colombia where the sunrise can be experienced quite like Puerto Carreño on the Orinoco River in the Vichada Department of Eastern Colombia. Come visit us!

The Colonial Spanish Armada first arrived in Puerto Carreño (El Picacho) with a 100 foot Galleon with the clergy, explorers and naturalists between 1531-1533; these first European visitors without Indigenous resistance wandered further along the Bita, Caura, Catañiapo, Meta, Paraguaza and other large navigable rivers that empower the Orinoco. After almost 120 years visiting the area, the Spanish embarked to establish a permanent settlement in the region at San Fernando de Atabapo in 1651. The Franciscan Order Mission (Cacao Encomienda) was between what is known today as Puerto Carreño, Colombia and Amazonas, Venezuela on the Orinoco River's largest island.

The City of Puerto Carreño (Capital of Vichada Department) is located at the end of Colombia Route 40 which begins in the Port of Buenaventura in the West ending in the East at the Orinoco River; the overland route is Colombia's oldest and most scenic highway passing through Bogota, alternatively travelers can switch over from Route 40 to the Meta and complete their trip by river from Puerto Lopez near Bogota to Puerto Carreño.

Domestic and international travellers that do not want to see the same landscape twice usually start their Colombia Vacation travel experience in Puerto Carreño after they arrive in a commercial jet at the German Olano Airport for an ecotourism experience or ethnocultural experience visiting an Indigenous community, before departing by river in a speedboat to Puerto Lopez, then Bogota before visiting other departments to explore Colombia's meta diverse cultures regionally from the Llanos, to the Andes, to the Caribbean Sea.

Colombia National Branding Campaign, the national branding program incorporates over 100 symbolic graphics for nearly every industry, there have also been many new creations based on the same artistic scheme..

Puerto Carreño, Vichada, Colombia

Hotels, Inns, Lodges and Hostels

Tour Guides and Operators

Destinations (1,000+ Locally)

Nature-Based Solutions Tourism Program

Authoritative Certification Body

Responsible Traveler / Responsible Host

Indigenous Free Port and Embassy

Private Companion/Security Guides

Luxury Secluded Ecotourism Vacations

Invested Tourist Program

Guides and Orinoco Outfitters

SMART Traveler Program Development

Tax Deductible Net-Zero Travel Planning

Tourism and International Businesses in Puerto Carreño Identify with the Colombia National Brand

The highly adaptable brand can be applied to nearly any business appropriately and legally by meeting the commercial best practices and business standards for their industry. Our tourism council will provide official seals and decals for storefront windows for its members.

There are dozens, perhaps over 200 sectoral images that have been created for use by businesses in Colombia. Most likely you will select one or several that define your business, appeal to you or we can create a special one for you. There are also brands that have been applied to specific places such as Cartagena, Buenaventura, and Medellin; there are identity seals for bananas, cannabis, coffee, coca, cacao, marañon, and more; there are seals for regions and routes such as the coffee sector and the llanos (plains region).

In the second half of 2023 new seals are being produced for Indigenous tourism, the Orinoco region and one will be produced specifically for Puerto Carreño. These seals and brand identity images will only be provided to Tourism Council participants.

Watch for our own regionally distinct Colombia Brand identities for Indigenous Peoples, Puerto Carreño and the Vichada Department.

Destination Operated Expedition Travel and Tourism Services

The Puerto Carreño Tourism Council works for its cooperative members which include tourists from around the world, goodwill ambassadors from several countries and the actual protagonists of the tourism industry in the City of Puerto Carreño as well as those throughout the Vichada Department and the Greater Orinoco Basin. Membership is voluntary, the cost for an annual membership is based on access to a private and confidential cloud-based computer network for $60 per year and a discretionary donation to the Tourism Council Commission dedicated to improving the local tourist infrastructure and establishing new attractions such as the Orinoco River Beach (established in May 2023) which is enjoyed by more than 250,000 visitors each year.

If you are not a member and you book your trip using one of the big corporate websites, decide to select a remote non-member tour operator or pay the local tourism tax to the airline, you are not entitled to file a complaint with the Puerto Carreño Tourism Council, request our intervention or receive our services. Tourists that wish to take advantage of the Tourism Council beyond the "Tourist Information Center" must become members prior to arriving or upon arrival in Puerto Carreño or the Vichada Department by completing the online application to offset your travel carbon emissions with the council. Sustainable tourism begins with sustainable travellers.

The Tourist Council addresses grievances between tourists who become members and member businesses effectively and responsibly to the satisfaction of the tourist based on International Tourism Laws, Policies and Regulations. Because we are an "In-Situ" Tourism Council, locally based and operated, we are the only private organization other than the government that represents the cultural heritage and intellectual property of the people and place called Puerto Carreño. The Tourist Council is a nonprofit destination marketing program of its cooperative members as well as its independent resident steering committee and advisors to promote all members profiles with equity in their participation to develop our website and local ICT network domains.

Visit Our Destination, Puerto Carreño

Learn here on PuertoCarreño.Com everything you need to have a good time in the Colombian Department of Vichada, its municipalities and the capital city of Puerto Carreño. Our In Situ Tourism Council brings together the best our region has to offer for investors, seasonal tourists and winter residents.

About Puerto Carreno
Attractions in Puerto Carreno
Culture of Puerto Carreño
Starting a Business in Puerto Carreño
Ecotourism in Puerto Carreño
Fishing in Puerto Carreño
History of Puerto Carreño
Churches of Puerto Carreño
Meetings in Puerto Carreño
Things To Do in Puerto Carreño
Location of Puerto Carreño
Travel to Puerto Carreño
Visiting Puerto Carreño
Climate in Puerto Carreño
Economy of Puerto Carreño
Map of Puerto Carreño
Investing in Puerto Carreño
Customs of Puerto Carreño
Banking in Puerto Carreño
Leisure in Puerto Carreño
Neighborhoods of Puerto Carreño
Shamanism in Puerto Carreño
Traditional Dance in Puerto Carreño
Venezuelan Cultural Influence in Puerto Carreño

Download this free Buenavista Map from the United States Geological Service (USGS) of Vichada and the Puerto Carreño area. Or you can download the Puerto Carreño 1:250,000 map.

Google and Open Street Maps

The most precise maps are those that have been created over the past 20 years by overlaying understood data in real-time using GPS and LandSat technologies combined with photographs, landmarks and monument data. The best maps today are live maps

Puerto Carreño Tourism Council Map

Currently under development are several regional tourism maps (for each city department wide) focused on agrotourism, avitourism, cultural tourism, ecotourism, edutourism, geotourism, Indigenous heritage tourism, nature tourism, mental health tourism, recreational tourism, wellness tourism (detoxification), and wildlife tourism which will be released to international visitors and national tourists on vacation when they arrive using our Vichada Network: Community Tourism Application starting in November 2024.

Our Territory (Regional Coverage)

Our ability to enforce compliance policies is limited within the terms of the by-laws of membership which are subscribed to voluntarily by our members; within the terms of the law "members" are in conventual agreement with one another under the terms of the organization's membership policies, local laws, maritime law, national laws, and international law. For all intents and purposes the Tourism Council maintains its boundaries based on the limitations of its own members combined with the use of smartphone technology through the use of our Vichada Network with 4 different municipalities represented each with a subdomain (eg. Puerto Carreño, Vichada) and separately within a 6 kilometer radius of the capital city of Puerto Carreño, Colombia. EarthView by Google.

Invest in Puerto Carreño's Tourism Council (Industry)

There are more than 100 viable businesses that can be added to the Puerto Carreño tourism landscape which would add to the local Puerto Carreño tourist experience. Currently some of the most popular attractions that bring tourists to Puerto Carreño include:

Parque Nacional Natural El Tuparro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Raudal de Maipures, a natural wonder known for its powerful rapids
Orinoco River, the third-largest river in the world
Llaneros, a unique culture of cattle ranchers and farmers
Indigenous peoples of the region, who have a rich culture and history

Puerto Carreño News

News of interest to tourists and visitors will be blogged by authorized editors and writers based on useful tips found by other visitors in Puerto Carreño.

Starting a Business in Puerto Carreño
(It is not too difficult) World Bank
Talking Points about Puerto Carreño
Place of Origin for Dozens of Indigenous Products
Source of Indigenous Chocolate

Searching for Puerto Carreño

Top sights in Puerto Carreño
Events in Puerto Carreño
Things to do in Puerto Carreño
More things to do in Puerto Carreño

Where local sustainable tourism ideas and venues are created, defined, named, and titled by the international tourists that direct and own the cooperative tourism council initiative.

Sustainable tourism directed by sustainable tourists that know what they want when they take an adventure vacation or embark on an biodiversity eco-expedition. Even our local council members are nominated, selected, and approved by tourists that visit us in Puerto Carreño on the Orinoco River at sunrise each Fall, Winter, and Spring.

Beginning in 2025 all arriving tourists will be issued a visibility VIP credential on a lanyard indicating they are either tourism directors, nominators, or official visitors. Tourists will also gain access to local apps. Did you know that Vichada has thousands of hiking trails?

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