Pablo Escobar, Boosting Tourism Colombia?
Narco Tourism the new attraction!
When I was in England I was dating a Colombian student, she would tell me of the natural treasures of Colombia, its beauty and lush landscapes, Amazon Jungles and its costal paradise. When she returned I was planning to visit her however circumstances changed so i never went. So 15 years later when the opportunity arouse to head to south America, look out Colombia here i come!
When I told my friends I was going to Colombia the said “you must be mad” so I talked to some Colombians I met in America and most said don’t go its still dangerous. ;-/
Why: Well its no secret that back in 1980s/90s Cocaine was the drug of choice in America, in fact some would say Miami was built on the Cocaine import business. and were did it come from, Yep Colombia!
For Those of you that didn’t see Narcos (Netfix)
Pablo Escobar was a defining figure in the history of Colombia a sort of Godfather of Colomia, many localsat the time thought of hi as a Robin Hood type caricature, but . Pablo was without a doubt a a nasty piece of work, directly responsible for murder of over 10s of thousends of deaths, wist terrorizing Colombia. I’m not going to go into details as sadly hes the most famous Colombian in the world well out side of Skera, Who is just great. BTW Skera if you reading this, fancy a coffee, love to talk to you about Colombian Music ? (sorry guys but worth a try) 😉
Hence Medellin was the most violent city on earth, with a homicide rate double today’s most violent city’s.
So you’d think the violent tv series depicting what was once a real not fiction depiction of the most dangerous city in the world would keep tourist away! Well not quite in-fact its had the opposite effect especially with the American Male population, It seem that the fascination with guns and Gangsters had created thousands of tourist to visit the ruens of what once was Pablos Esabars home & everyday bus loads of tourists stop at his grave!
OK Medellin is a beautiful City with a perfect climate all year round (City of Eternal Springs) but I don’t believe the news of this once secret Paradise would have been so prolific without the numerous films/TV shows depicting Pablo Escobar’s exploits.
So what brought me here, well I almost moved here because of the love of a woman! (as i said before) Yes Sad, but what’s even more sad is the fact that if you talk about Colombia everyone seems to bring up Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror as opposed to the abundance of fruit that taste like the nectar of the Gods or the diverse landscapes that are spread across Colombia from the Amazon to the Mountains that slide into the beautiful coastline on both the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans. On top of this you have the mixture of beautiful cultures that are just waiting for you to explore along with the natives that will embrace your interest with pride and enthusiasm as they explain there heritage!
Narco Tourism
Pablo Escobar tours and tourism have been growing in popularity over the past few years. There are now at least a dozen tour operators who will take you around Medellin, Colombia and show you the places where he lived, died, and was buried.
When you ask anyone outside of Colombia what they associate with the country it is inevitably cocaine and Pablo. sadly they are Colombia’s most famous legacy to the world which is a shame.
It seems that young Americans seem to secretly Idealize the “Bad Boys” of the world are they closet rebels fed up with the system who knows, but some one is buying the T-Shirts and Mugs with Pablo’s face on them!
I have talked to taxi drivers, when I ask what their number one conversation with tourists is, they say Pablo Escobar.
The Colombian Perspective
Most Colombians are very proud of there county, and would like to leave it in the past and for the whole story/event be forgotten, however there are a few that still think hes hero a sort of Robin Hood, its true he did build towns and houses but we all know it was at a cost greater than money, if you go to look at the Narco attractions, spare a thought for family’s whom lost everything, all the money in the world cant replace mothers daughters sons and fathers that were murdered raped kidnapped!
After all said an done, Medellin if fact Colombia has become one of my favorite destinations in the world and I’m planing to do a TubeDoc next year so stay tuned! 😉