Illustration of mountains and palm trees

WHY VISIT

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Colombia map
The departments of Colombia

Why Visit Colombia?

Seasoned travelers agree, while often misunderstood,  Colombia is South America’s best kept secret – beautiful, affordable and mostly undiscovered by foreign tourists. The country  is easy to travel with plenty of low cost internal flights, comfortable cross-country buses and inexpensive taxis literally everywhere.

The country is beautiful, the people  friendly and the climate is perfect ranging from hot to cool. Everything is very affordable and with a good service structure already in place, tourism is overdue.
  • It’s one of the five friendliest
  • And one of the top 10 countries for expats to live in.
  • It is the only country in South America with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
  • It has been ranked #22 out of 140 countries for  its quality of health care by the World Health Organization. Lasik surgery was invented here in 1963 as was the pacemaker in 1958.

Who Visits Colombia?

Colombia received 5.8 million foreign visitors in 2023, up 24% from 2022 according to the country’s trade ministry. The President of Colombia was optimistic Colombia will see even more foreign visitors in 2024. They are hoping tourism will help kick start the country’s economy in the post-covid era.
The contribution of tourism to Colombia’s GDP is nearly $6 billion or 5% of the country’s GDP in 2019.  Tourism then generated 600,000 jobs or 2.5% of the country’s total employment.
North American tourists tops the list of Colombian visitors with 1.1 million visiting tourists in 2023 - an increase of 21% from the previous year.
Foreign tourism had been increasing in Colombia with a reported growth of 24.3% comparted to 2022.
On the Latin American continent,  Colombian only lags behind Argentina's 13.4 million tourists and Brazil’s 6 million tourists in 2023.
Colombia is outpacing  Chile's 3.7 million foreign tourists, Peru's 2.5 million and Cuba's 2.3 million in 2023.
Tourism has increased from 1.9 million tourists in 2020 but still down from its peak of 6.6 million tourist in 2018.
The top nationalities to visit Colombia are the USA and Venezuela followed by Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Spain and  Chile.
Each internatonal tourist spends on the average around $1,187 during their Colombian travels.

Some stats

Major Destinations

The cities of Bogota, Cartagena and Medellin are the most visited sites. But foreign tourist hear the call and many return again and again. Colombia is a complex, fascinating country meriting  further investigation. With passenger ships in Cartagena’s harbor discharging a flood of  tourists into into the town every morning and a constant flow of international tourists to airport of Medellin, it would seem the world has yet to discover the more remote areas of Colombia. Corporate tourism barely exists here and tour buses are a rarity. Colombia has remained relatively unchanged for the last 40 years.
illustration coffee bag, marimonda and sky
a photo outside
photo of a boy holding a fish
photo of palms
A finca or coffee farm in the hills of Colombia

How big is it?

With a land mass as large as France and Spain combined, Colombia is the fourth largest nation in Latin America (440,800 square miles),  the third most populous in South America. And with an unequaled habitat, Colombia is the second most bio-diverse country in the world with more than 2,000 different bird species.

Even though it is one of the larger countries of South America, travelers can easily visit more than 2-3 destinations in a week. And there are dozens of destinations  for travelers with the luxury of  time to spare.  An inexpensive country, money for extended  travel is not a major concern. Cheap eats abound as do inexpensive buses, hotels and hostels. Colombia, never boring, never gets old.

Is Colombia Safe?

Prior reputation as a violent and unsafe country is for the most part unfounded today. Once a notoriously violent epicenter of drugs and kidnappings, Colombia has been considered safe for travel since 2015. Crime  rates and violence levels have been dropping considerably.
Colombians tell me they feel safe walking the streets and country roads once again.  Rather than look back, they choose to look ahead to a hopefully promising future. Just don’t talk to them about Pablo Escobar or drugs as the country is trying to forget the dark era of the 1980s and 1990s.
Peace is at hand after five decades of conflict Involving two rebel movements, the Colombian army and right-wing paramilitary groups. The dark days  of violence resulted in more than 260,000 deaths, the disappearance of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of 6 million people.
Peace accords have been struck with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), a revolutionary group which financed itself through involvement in Colombia’s drug trade. The FARC has turned over its weapons and is in the process of reorganizing a political movement.  The government of the USA has removed the group for its list of terrorists organizations. A cease-fire was also signed with the ELN (the National Liberation Army).
Colombia's Pacific Coast
photo of the sea
Today, the tourist office's promotional slogan is:

"Colombia - the only risk is wanting to stay!"

Up-to-date information on Travel in Colombia

Todays travelers are finding there’s not the right information out there about Colombia. What is essential to see? How do I get there? What will I find? How long does it take? How much does it cost? Is it safe?

While there’s decent coverage on the history, geography and politics  of the country, there’s not enough on the nuts and bolts of traveling in Colombia. For the most part, travel in Colombia is still a leap into adventure.

Travelers in Colombia want and need more information on these places before and during their trips. Even with the internet,  updated information is often hard to find.

This is a non-profit blog whose purpose is to supply more information to people contemplating a trip to Colombia. There are more than 100 updated articles in this blog with photos. Just tap on “Destinations Colombia – Articles and Photos”  a button on the top of the page for a full  list of easily accessible articles. And tap the "Categories" button to find the destinations for archaeology, river towns, colonial villages, for the best beaches, best places for arts and crafts and more.