As the manhunt for alleged drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke drags into a third week and the government takes its anti-gang crusade nationwide, this nation of 2.6 million is fretting about the strength of its economic backbone: the event and tourism industries.
A universal story that touches upon many of the themes that cross the modern world we live in: dislocation of people, destruction of their dreams overnight by crises they are not responsible for and their efforts to survive.
At first glance, the vast, empty expanse of the plaza of Villa de Leyva, a colonial city that is three and a half hours by car or bus from Bogotá, seems designed to reduce the onlooker to a contemplation of his or her own insignificance. One of the largest town squares in South America, the Plaza Mayor lacks the decorative playfulness of so many of its smaller siblings in Colombia and elsewhere, with only the paving stones giving it shape and form.
Legal travel to and from Cuba is booming, even though the Obama administration has not officially changed any rules regarding nonfamily travel to the island.
The apartment is on the second story of a three-story, walk-up building, constructed of concrete about 40 years ago. The old city is Cartagena's tourist and cultural center; shopping, dining and public transportation are within walking distance.
Quito, the bustling capital of Ecuador, was for many years just a stopover for tourists heading to the Galápagos. Its Old Town was a maze of litter-strewn streets and dilapidated colonial facades, and its New Town was known for raucous partying and muggings.
PRINCE PIERRE CASIRAGHI of Monaco has paid tribute. The heartthrobs Ben Harper and Stavros Niarchos have partied on its beachfront dance floor. And on many Champagne-fueled nights, leggy models straight from the pages of Sports Illustrated and the Victoria’s Secret catalog have perched on its billowing banquettes.
USHUAIA, Argentina, on the south coast of Tierra del Fuego, is about as far south as a tourist can comfortably go in the Americas. It faces the Beagle Channel, named for the ship that brought Charles Darwin on his 1832 exploration of local wildlife.
Two natural sites, the Dolomite range of the Italian Alps, and the coastal wetlands of the Dutch and German sections of the Wadden Sea, have been added to Unesco´s World Heritage List.
WHY GO NOW The people of Cartagena want the world to know that their city is not like the rest of Colombia. Perched atop South America on the southern rim of the Caribbean Sea, Cartagena feels a million mile s from anything having to do with guerrillas, paramilitaries, narcotics or kidnappings.
The valley narrows as we move east toward the Andes on horseback, rolling pasture rising into virgin jungle. Along the ridgelines high above us march lines of swaying wax palms. Their towering trunks, topped by small tufts of fronds, appear like visions from a Dr. Seuss tale.
Is the hurricane season any time for a convention in South Florida? Tourism officials worry meeting bookers are asking just that after two hurricanes hit Florida and a third might be on the way.
