Tourism in Colombia

juanalejo says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:04:

Dinero Magazine The above with extracts from the current Dinero Magazine.

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ColombianoX says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:06:

Thanks for all that good news Juanalejo! You left out "La Escollera Tower" in Cartagena, which when finished in 2006, will be Colombia's tallest building and will include hotel rooms.

Saludes,

CX

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

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kernow62 says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:11:

Very interesting Juanalejo, thanks for posting. That is a very high figure almost half of Colombia's population feeling comfortable enough to travel during the holidays.

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juanalejo says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:15:

Old Hilton towers I also forgot the old Hilton towers in downtown Bogota, the San Martin convention center and hotel is being built inside. Finally those towers come back to life.

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babygirl says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:16:

Wow! That's fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this great information.

cheers - babygirl

cheers - babygirl

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juanalejo says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:25:

under concession The airport project will be given under concession, so the money will not be coming out of the country´s budget. Several companies are already interested including Aeroports de Paris, Aeropuertos Argentinos, Schipol Airport and AENA (Spain)

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babygirl says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:25:

Is that why there was never any t.p. in the public ladies rooms? Pardon my ignorance but people are actually stealing it? I just thought the cleaners were too lazy to replace the t.p. hahahaa. Maybe they should have those toilet paper ladies like they have in Cuba? No tip, you get 3 squares, with tip the skies the limit.

Sorry off topic, but couldn't resist. That really is awesome news about increased tourism and plans to generate more tourism.

cheers - babygirl

cheers - babygirl

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juanalejo says on Feb 9, 2005, 19:35:

Infrastructure Same with the 20 billion pesos infrastructure program (20 billones in spanish means 20 millones de millones not 2.000 million). But I will prepare that post some other time. But do not forget the donor conference has to do with coresponsability in drug trade and its consequences, and these projects have to do with productivity as a generator of investment and employment.

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amid bouselahane says on Feb 10, 2005, 06:51:

new information San agustin magdalenarafting at yahoo.fr has all the travellers and in love with the river. I am French and I life has .
San Agustin Colombia site magic, quiet and formidable river has to see for more information in colombia my direction
magdalenarafting at yahoo.fr

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go2pr says on Feb 10, 2005, 08:35:

Ibagué - Tolima A new Sofitel just opened in Ibagué, yet it seems that this city has never (or very rarely) been mentionned in the forum : is it worth a visit ?

Thanks

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Albatross says on Feb 10, 2005, 08:48:

Progress... Great... maybe soon Colombia will have a McDonalds on every corner and a Blockbuster video store in every neighborhood. And maybe everyone there will speak English and buy their furniture at WalMart.

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 10, 2005, 08:53:

You can go to Monterrey, Mexico and see the same stores that you see in San Antonio, even the same HEB grocery stores. However people still speak Spanish and Monterrey is still its own unique place. I get the feeling that many posters want Colombia to stay exactly the way it is. Unfortunately the way it is is not very damm good for millions of people. I guess the beggars and huffers are quaint.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Albatross says on Feb 10, 2005, 09:17:

Ugly Tourism... No, poverty and disease aren't quaint, but that doesn't mean the whole damn planet should turn into Las Vegas or Disney World.

Tourism, especially eco-tourism, generally diminishes or destroys the very things that are worth seeing in the first place.

Do Colombians really want their country infested with a bunch of fat, lazy tourists riding around in busses, stopping only to eat and to take more slavish pictures ?

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 10, 2005, 10:10:

I know something a lot uglier than tourism and fat gringos. Once when we went to the beach at Covenas, we stopped at a restaurant. The food was terrible and none of us wanted to finish our lunches. There were people there without anything to eat and they were only too happy when we offered to give them what was left of our lunches. It's easy to have this superior attitude when you don't know anyone living in poverty as the majority of Colombians do.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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caslug says on Feb 10, 2005, 10:13:

well.. it easy for us 1st worlder to lament on the lost of a undeveloped vacation spot(ie, COL). Afterall we dont live there and have to worry about security and poverty. When i travel to COL, i spend about $100 USD per day on food, lodging, drinks, gambling, etc., Plus tipping the waiters and taxi driver. So a 10 day trip, i put $1000 USD into the local economy, so having bunch of tourist going thru the COL would pump lots of money into the economy. And provide many service oriented jobs, of course they dont pay much, put with COL unemployement what it is, every job helps.

Now of course IF or WHEN COL becomes self sustaining, with everyone educated and having good paying jobs(white collar), then maybe THEN Tourism will not be an important source of income. Developing a tourism economy or infrasture is ALOT easier than trying to develop high tech infrastucture.

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juanalejo says on Feb 10, 2005, 21:03:

Mal Necesario I guess tourism is a necessary evil, but as long a country is not over run by one specific nationality, things can be handled OK. The problem is when a country starts catering for one specific tourist group then the national identity gets lost. i.e. Cancun (Americans), Ibiza (Germans) or Barbados (British) to name a few.

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Lionheart says on Feb 10, 2005, 21:46:

juanalejo There is a big difference between the small communities you list as being overrun, and the size of Colombia ... you would have to restrict the comparison to an area like Cartagena. I doubt if the comparison would still hold though, because you have many Colombians traveling there as well. The area isn't as isolated. It would be easier to compare to Brazilean vacation areas, not overrun by a single nation and many Brazileans still go there.

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go2pr says on Feb 11, 2005, 02:46:

Locals ! The worse tourists in South America are from far the locals : see Santos, Camburi, Porto Seguro, Salvador, Maceio, Porto de Galinhas or any others beaches in Brasil where HORDS of millions louds and dirty Brasilian vacationers invade and soil every inch of sand and leave behing them TONS of ignoble and disgusting garbage without ANY culpability.

French and Spanish coasts are ecologic gardens beside Copacabana or Boa Viagem (or Punta Del Este in Uruguay).

I've never been to Cartagena or Barranquilla beaches but from my only trip in Medellin, I easily imagine that Colombians vacationers have absolutly no reasons to be classier or more "educated" than their Brasilian counterparts.

I'm always atonished when I see on forums like this one some people presenting gringos as invasives, depraved and ugly aliens and South Americans as decent, delicate and virtuous folks : reality is VERY far away from this false picture.

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juanalejo says on Feb 11, 2005, 04:17:

Local Culture Nobody here is defending or attacking a particular group of tourists, I am just saying that the local flavor of a particular country or area of a country can easily be changed by an influx of a high number of tourists from a specific country. It is true that richer countries have more educated people and therefore the impact by those people in the ecosystem is probably smaller than that of the nationals of poorer countries, yet in Colombia´s case it is my country and my fellow citizen´s are more than entitled to go where ever they want. Another story is how to educated them, yet I personally do not want to go to my own country´s holiday areas and find that the place is no longer a regular Colombian place but a place that now caters for a specific group of foreign tourists. I feel that tourists in Colombia should be more than welcome, that is if they want to see Colombia as it is, not as a little bit of their own home town in Colombian territory.

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go2pr says on Feb 11, 2005, 06:04:

"Nobody here is defending or attacking a particular group of tourists"

Nobody is here to invade your country.

;-)

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 11, 2005, 08:23:

I have to laugh when I read posts about how people are worried about tourists invading Colombia and "spoiling" it. With the reputation of Colombia in the world, there is no danger of that. Believe me, very few people in the US want to go to Colombia unless they are Colombian or they are married or have friends there. So nobody needs to spend much time worrying about any invasions from the north - it ain't gonna happen.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Albatross says on Feb 11, 2005, 09:48:

What will Tourism do for Colombia... Started new post instead...

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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