With an investment of 8,000 million dollars, Coliseo Live is ready for the concert season which will begin with Imagine Dragons

The Live Coliseum, the largest multipurpose stage in Latin America, is ready to start the season of massive events that is coming to the city of Bogotá with the concert of imagine Dragonsscheduled for Sunday, March 12.

Having attracted the attention of public opinion due to certain logistical failures, related above all to the accesses and exits of the place (which are more the responsibility of the Mobility of Bogotá-Region), in an interview with GlobeLiveMedia his gManaging Director, Miguel Caballeroexplained how this scenario has been prepared for the coming weeks, what adjustments have been made to it and all that the massive events represent for the economy of the capital.

GlobeLiveMedia: How did you prepare for the next season of massive events?

Miguel Caballero: Coliseo Live is a versatile stage and from the start it was designed not only for music, but also for corporate events, fairs and brand activations, and over the past few months we have focused on facilitation of arrival at concerts.

What was done? In terms of mobility, it is important to emphasize that build a pedestrian bridge which connects the two directions of 80 Street. This bridge was inaugurated in August.

In addition, attendees will find 1,500 parking spaces on one side and 1,000 on the other, and we have already made alliances with Bazar 80, where Andrés Carne de Res is located, and with the cemetery, thus increasing our parking capacity at more than 3,000 seats. All work on the car park was completed in December 2022, the month in which it was inaugurated.

GlobeLiveMedia: It’s on the car park side. What alliances have you concluded in terms of mobility?

Miguel Caballero: We anticipate that in Portal 80 of Transmilenio there will be routes that depart from there to the Colosseum and vice versa. This is one of the most relevant changes that we have managed to bring about and which will greatly facilitate access for participants. The arrival on stage is 100% ready, so its infrastructure, aerial systems, logistics, organization and ticketing are executed. Only the assistants are missing. We are ready to provide the best experience to our users.

So I summarize as follows: the number of parking spaces has increased, a system has been put in place where, when you buy your ticket, attendees will have the option of purchasing the transportation route or reserving a parking space in advance. These are very large amenities that will be essential to access planning and logistics.

Yet it is essential that people come in groups and use the public transport system and the transport solutions we offer. There is come huge 10,000 people with 50 parking spaces. Here we have 3,000, but the call of civic culture is to use public transport.

GlobeLiveMedia: So the congestion at the Harry Styles concert won’t happen again?

Miguel Caballero: I would like to point out that the media repercussion that has been generated has been presented in other countries. It happened in Peru, it happened in England and at home it did not generate any setbacks at all, but rather allowed us to improve for future events, taking more precautionary measures, depending of the age of the participants, hand in hand with the organizers of the event. .

GlobeLiveMedia: Has Coliseo Live invested in improving the user experience?

Miguel Caballero: Many of the adaptations that fall under our responsibility are investments that were underway. The pedestrian bridge required an investment of over 3 billion pesos and the parking lot that we set up in front of the coliseum, with more than 33,000 square meters, had a very similar investment, so these are all investments that were in progress and were 100% made.

I think all the investments that have been made, from the pedestrian bridge, to technology, to parking lots and so on, we’re talking about a number that exceeds 8,000 million pesos.

GlobeLiveMedia: How much does an event like the one in imagine Dragons?

Miguel Caballero: In a concert like that of imagine Dragons Nearly 800 direct jobs are generated and about 3,000 indirect jobs. In terms of international flights, an event of this type must move more than 800 passengers who come from abroad. In hotels, between 2,000 and 3,000 rooms move, so the impact on the economy and the Gross Domestic Product is significant.

GlobeLiveMedia: And how much profit can an event like this generate?

Miguel Caballero: If you put an average ticket at 250,000 pesos and 20,000 tickets are sold, just at the box office, we are talking about 5,000 million pesos. Of this figure, 10% goes to the Ministry of Culture, 500 million pesos going to the cultural sector. And from there you can add an average consumption for each person who attends 45,000 pesos, plus everything related to logistics, direct jobs and indirect jobs of what is necessary before, during and after the event .

GlobeLiveMedia: As a private company, Coliseo Live gives something back to the community?

Miguel Caballero: For every ticket we sell, 4,000 pesos are donated to a foundation dedicated to building educational infrastructure throughout the country. 2022 we give more than 800 million from pesos to hospitals, to emergency teams for children who cannot afford to care, so as a private company it is important to contribute to the community. But we need help in infrastructure so that everything goes hand in hand, that taxes are paid, that jobs are created, that development is generated. It is to create a country.

GlobeLiveMedia: How do you see the city of Bogotá in its strategies to continue encouraging massive events?

Miguel Caballero: We are the largest indoor stage in the country, with a capacity of 22,000 people and world-class specifications that show how Bogotá is ready to be a benchmark for large-scale events. I would even tell you that we are the soul of Latin America in terms of entertainment.

Now, given the national strategy around this sector, I had the opportunity to be at ANATO, and the objective of the national government is to double tourism revenues in the next two years. In that sense, I think these world-class steps will be key. Infrastructures such as Coliseo Live punctuate the activities of many countries that come to these events. We are the most innovative and comprehensive world-class multi-purpose stage in the region and hope to contribute to the government’s goal.