Tourism in Bolivia is one of the key economic sectors of the country. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia (INE), there were over 1.24 million tourists that visited the country in 2020, making Bolivia the ninth most visited country in South America.
People have visited Bolivia for centuries in the form of movement of people during the pre-Inca and Inca period, in which wealthy groups within moved outside their habitual residence across the vast expanse of the Inca empire. that stretched 2,500 from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south.
History
People have visited Bolivia for centuries. During the pre-Incan and Incan period, privileged social groups could move away from their place of residence and settle in new towns. The Inca road system, a vast network of carefully engineered roads that connected settlements in present-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, facilitated the movement of people and goods across South America. During the colonial era, several expeditions were carried out in Bolivia as a way to seek resources and wealth and expand the Spanish domain.
Tourism in Bolivia was formalized as an official entity in 1930 during the presidency of David Toro. From that moment on, the Bolivian government began to regulate tourism within the country, to ensure the care of tourist attractions and to provide assistance to foreign tourists arriving in Bolivia.
Organized tourism in Bolivia began in the 1940s. One of the precursors of this activity was Darius Morgan, a Romanian entrepreneur who came to Bolivia working for the Swedish company Ericsson. When touring the Altiplano region around Lake Titicaca, Morgan had been fascinated by the scenic beauty of the area, which was not frequently visited at the time. Morgan eventually established the first travel agency in Bolivia and began offering organized tours to Lake Titicaca. Given the lack of accommodation establishments in the lake region, tourists stayed in camps with tents set up and food prepared in advance. However, Morgan managed to spread the word about the natural beauty of the region, impacting the arrival of more foreign tourists who wanted to visit the highest navigable lake in the world. In 1986, Darius Morgan was awarded the Order of the Condor of the Andes, the highest distinction in Bolivia, for his contribution to the development of tourism in the country.
Arrivals +Tourist arrivals of 2024 in % +Yearly tourist arrivals in thousands
Tourism in Bolivia has experienced significant growth, increasing from 319,000 international visitors and $101 million in revenue in 2000 to over 1.1 million arrivals and more than $581 million in revenue by 2012. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia, the country received around two million tourists in 2023, approximately one million were foreign nationals, while the remaining were domestic ones: #CountryArrivals1382 7252203 201367 629452 967548 595637 458724 073820 130919 5931018 3101110 6681210 6201310 081148 701158 135167 973177 870186 683195 495204 596214 392224 283233 806243 539253 106262 758272 430282 259291 830301 655311 637321 635331 616341 568351 221369753793738842398374074541669425544354444543454824645547428482624919850Other countries6 868Total 1.009.267
Land and climate
Bolivia is located in the center of South America, in what could be considered its western strip and is one of the two landlocked countries in the continent. The western region of the country is dominated by the Andes mountains, more precisely in the Cordillera Real, bisecting the country roughly from north to south and the Altiplano, a high plateau where Lake Titicaca is located. This region includes steep slopes and many snow-capped peaks. To the east of the mountain range are lowland plains and tropical rainforests from the Amazon Basin. These geographical characteristics have influenced the culture of Bolivia and contribute with unique cultural and natural sites that are unique to the country.
Due to its diverse geography, Bolivia has several geographical areas and climates, and the three predominant ones are Andean (28% of the territory), sub-Andean (13%), and plains (59%)."Health in the Americas: Bolivia", Pan American Health Organization. The climate of Bolivia varies drastically from one ecoregion to the other, from the tropics in the eastern llanos to polar climates in the western Andes. This has brought about ecotourism to Bolivia and has also made it a popular tourist destination for outdoor activities, such as mountain climbing. The summers are warm, humid in the east and dry in the west, with rains that often modify temperatures, humidity, winds, atmospheric pressure and evaporation, giving place to very different climates. When the climatological phenomenon known as El NiñoFortalecimiento de las Capacidades locales para enfrentar El Fenómeno del Niño en Perú y Bolivia takes place, it provokes great alterations in the weather. Winters are very cold in the west, and it snows around the mountain ranges, while in the western regions, windy days are more usual. The autumn is dry in the non-tropical regions.
Major attractions
World Heritage Sites
Bolivia has seven World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO. They constitute important tourist attractions due to their historical and cultural legacy. Bolivia was among the first countries that ratified folklore as a cultural heritage at the UNESCO Convention of 1972, giving rise to profound debates, resulting in the creation of the "Text of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage" in 2003.
The city of Potosí (1987): Known as Villa Imperial de Potosí (Spanish for Imperial City of Potosí), was the first site to be recognized by UNESCO in Bolivia, due to its contribution to universal history, often considered one of the birthplaces of early capitalism. It was one of the world's most important mining sites during the colonial times, and a source of wealth for the Spanish Empire. The city is also considered the cradle of the Andean baroque architectural style. During the 16th century, It was considered the world's largest industrial complex and its population grew to more than 200,000 inhabitants. The Cerro Rico, discovered by the Spanish in 1545, contained what was once the largest silver mine in the world, contributing with 60% of the world's silver exploitation at the time. The city is known for its colonial-style neighborhoods and features important cultural sites such as the historic National Mint of Bolivia and the Church of San Lorenzo de Carangas. Fort Samaipata (1998): Located in the department of Santa Cruz, it is a pre-Inca archaeological site of Chané origin, located a few kilometers from the town of Samaipata. The fort consists of two parts, the hill with its numerous engravings, believed to be a ceremonial center, and the area south of the hill, which housed the administrative and residential center of the Chané civilization. The great rock is considered the largest carved stone in the world. It served as an astronomical and cosmic observatory for the Chané people, and hosted religious and ceremonial functions towards the moon. The Historical City of Sucre (1991): Founded by the Spanish in the first half of the 16th century, Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia. The city features well preserved buildings that show an architectural mixture of Spanish baroque with the assimilation of local traditions and styles. in Latin America through the assimilation of local traditions and styles imported from Europe. Established in 1538 as Villa de la Plata of the new Toledo, the city was the cultural, judicial and religious center of the Region of the Royal Audience of Charcas for several years. In 1839, the city was renamed after Antonio José de Sucre, a Bolivian revolutionary. The University of San Francisco Xavier, founded in 1624, is the oldest university in Bolivia and the second oldest in Latin America. The Jesuit missions of Chiquitos (1990): Between 1691 and 1760, the Society of Jesus founded a series of "villages of Indians" in order to Christianize the indigenous population. Largely inspired by the "ideal cities" imagined by the humanist philosophers of the sixteenth century in the territory of Chiquitos, in eastern Bolivia, the Jesuits and their indigenous positions combined European architecture with local traditions. The six historical missions that remain intact are San Xavier, San Rafael de Velasco, San José de Chiquitos, Concepción, San Miguel de Velasco and Santa Ana de Velasco. These today make up a living but vulnerable heritage in the territory of the Chiquitanía and are the only active missions in all of South America. The ruins of the city of Tiwanaku (2000): Located near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca in the Bolivian Altiplano, it is considered one of the earliest settlements of human civilization, and one of the oldest in the Americas, it existed for 27 centuries. The city was the spiritual and political center of the Tiwanaku culture and began small settlement and later became a planned city between 400 d. C. and 900 d. C. The main buildings in Tiwanaku include the pyramid of Akapana, a huge staggered adobe pyramid and the temple of Kalasasaya, a sacred site with a structure based on sandstone columns and cut sillars, and featuring standing gargoyles with drainage systems for rainwater. Important monuments include the Gate of the Sun, the Gate of the Moon, and the famous monoliths that feature numerous iconographies and mysterious inscriptions with astronomical meanings. Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (2000): Covering an area of 1.5 million hectares, it is one of the largest and most intact natural reserves in the Amazon basin. It is Bolivia's only natural heritage site. The park has various habitats that include mountainous forests and savannas. The flora is rich in diversity of endemic vegetation. It contains about 2,700 species of plants recorded, though it is estimated that there could be about 4,000 species of undiscovered plants. Additionally, the park contains approximately 1,142 species of vertebrates, representing 21% of all species in South America. The Inca Road System (2014): Was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. The network was composed of formal roads carefully planned, engineered, built, marked and maintained; paved where necessary, with stairways to gain elevation, bridges and accessory constructions such as retaining walls, and water drainage systems. At its maximum extension, it connected regions and urban centers in current Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina with a network that exceeded 30,000 kilometers in length. The road system allowed for the transfer of information, goods, soldiers and persons, without the use of wheels, within the Tawantinsuyu or Inca Empire throughout a territory covering almost Raffino, Rodolfo et al. Rumichaca: el puente inca en la cordillera de los Chichas (Tarija, Bolivia) – in "Arqueologia argentina en los incios de un nevo siglo" pags 215 to 223 and inhabited by about 12 million people.
Cultural tourism Cultural tourism forms an important sector of the tourism industry in Bolivia. Pre-Columbian civilizations, notably the Inca Empire, Tiwanaku Empire, Wankarani, and the Aymara kingdoms, left a large archeological and cultural heritage.