Highlights
– Tourism industry seeing record growth
– Security measures decrease number of kidnappings and murders
– Overall security environment still moderately unsafe
The tourism industry in Colombia is experiencing remarkable growth after almost 30 years of either loss or at best, stagnation. Approximately 1.3 million foreigners visited Colombia in 2007, which broke the previous record of 1.12 million set in 1980 and those 1.2 million tourists put more than US $2.5 billion into the Colombian economy. The 1.3 million visitors is an increase from 1.05 million in 2006 and more than double the number of visitors in 2002.
Behind the Boom
The reason for the nation’s successful tourism turn around is credited much, and rightly so, to President Alvaro Uribe’s tough stance on leftist rebels and narcoterrorist activity throughout Colombia. By using almost US $700 million in annual US aid since taking office in 2002, Uribe was able to effectively curb kidnapping and homicide rates that were once among the highest in the world. A beefed up military campaign, against leftist rebels wagging a four-decade long war on the state and rival drug cartels competing for control of the country’s lucrative cocaine trade, has allowed kidnappings to drop by more than 70 percent, murders to decline by 35 percent, and urban crime rates to maintain a steady decline.
Safety and security were the main issues in the first years of Uribe’s campaign to once again allow his nation to become a tourist destination. 2008 is likely to see steady growth in the sector as Uribe now turns to infrastructure development and marketing to continue the international attraction. In addition to infrastructure improvements, Uribe has promised $10 million for tourism ads in 2008 to market Colombia as a hotspot and tax incentives for private industry and foreign investment so that more tourism related infrastructure, such as hotels and eco-tourism attractions, will be built in the near term.
The Security Situation
Though it is undeniable that Colombia is more secure than it was in 2002, and that the tourism industry is seeing unprecedented growth, conventional perceptions of the nation as a narcoterrorist and kidnapping hub will remain Uribe’s largest stumbling block in his mission to fully engage the international community in Colombia’s tourism opportunities. Those conventional perceptions, while not completely correct, still hold weight however.
For example, though the levels of violence in Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, and Cartegena have dropped, the level of violence in Cali, Buenaventura, and surrounding areas remains high as drug traffickers continue employing Colombia as a major transshipment and coordination point for illicit drugs leaving South America bound for the US and Europe.
The presence of narcoterrorists remains high in the rural areas of the nation making travel between cities particularly dangerous. While there has been an ebb in violence from both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), they, as well as other criminal organizations, continue to kidnap civilians for ransom or political means.
Recently, media outlets have reported the FARC hostage negotiations extensively and on January 10, 2008, two high-profile hostages were released. While this is an important step in ending the crisis, there is no evidence to suggest that the trend of lessened violence or hostage handovers will continue in the future. There is also no current intelligence indicating that this incident will further the peace process.
Moreover, on Monday, January 14, FARC rebels kidnapped six tourists from a remote beach on Colombia’s Pacific coast. The group taken hostage included at least two foreign nationals, a Norwegian couple as well as Colombian nationals. This most recent incident highlights that even though the leftist rebels released two hostages, they still stand to benefit from abducting foreign nationals. The Colombian government estimates the FARC is holding around 750 hostages in all.
FARC rebels have held three American contractors hostage since February 2003. To that end, the US Department of State maintains a travel warning for all of Colombia and specifically restricts government officials and their families who reside in Colombia from traveling between cities except by air.
While the tourism industry is increasing due to improved infrastructure and security in some Colombian urban centers, we still contend that narcoterrorists and drug traffickers will continue to terrorize the nation for the foreseeable future. As such, foreign nationals traveling to Colombia should use increased vigilance in the mid to long-term.
