Social Tourism in Colombia’s Comunas

 

 

Thematic Focus: 

This project will focus on the practice and impact of social tourism in Colombia. Within the context of this grant project, social tourism will refer to the practice of geographical and cultural spaces, historically associated with conflict, now transformed to serve as spaces for tourist visits and education about said conflict, with those spaces now being transformed to fit the needs of the community and increase safety. In Colombia, “turismo social”, or social tourism, is a common program, coined by the municipal government in the cities of Medellín and Cali, to use comunas (slums) for tours, given by locals with ties to the comunas, to educate about the history of conflict within the comunas, most often associated with either the War on Drugs or the civil conflict. Frequently, the spaces in which the social tourism tours are conducted have been completely remodeled and equipped with better social services, transportation, restaurants, community gardens, stores, and other amenities to showcase the progress made by the comuna since its entrance in a conflict period.

This SMGP project will document the development and outcome of social tourism programs throughout Colombia, in areas with a historical (and sometimes current) association with violent conflict.

 

 

          

Tourists & shops in Comuna 13, Medellín         Afro-Colombian dancers, Cartagena             Views from a village in rural Meta