Intercontinental Hotel Group Colombia

New InterContinential Hotel In Cartagena, Colombia

MIAMI, Jun 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, and Latin America’s most experienced international hotel company, today announced that it had signed an agreement with Colombia-based Espacios Urbanos S.A. to manage a new-build InterContinental property in Cartagena, Colombia. The hotel will be the 23rd InterContinental Hotels & Resorts property in Latin America and the Caribbean (19 open and 4 under construction).

Scheduled to open in early 2013, the 280-room InterContinental Cartagena will be located in the city’s Bocagrande district — beachfront on San Martin Avenue — approximately two miles from the historic walled Old City and five miles from Rafael Nunez International Airport.
The hotel will be one of the anchors of a 215,000-square-foot mixed-used development that includes a casino, upscale retail shops, movie theaters and restaurants.

The property itself will include more than 16,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa, fitness center and various restaurants and bars.
The developer, Espacios Urbanos S.A., has more than 20 years of experience in the development of large-scale projects in Colombia, as well as throughout the whole of Latin America. Espacios Urbanos S.A. has managed the development of projects such as the Trump Ocean Club (Panama City, Panama); and Torres Unidas and Centro Comercial Gran Estacion (Bogota, Colombia), among others.

Located on the northern coast of Colombia, Cartagena is one of the oldest cities in the Americas, founded by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia in 1533. Its famed colonial Old City and San Felipe fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its historical value.

With a population of more than 1.2 million, Cartagena is Colombia’s fifth-largest urban area and a key financial center in the Caribbean, as well as one of the region’s most popular tourist destinations. Its unique old world charm, coupled with major new urban centers, has made Cartagena one of the country’s most successful cities.

“Our InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand has been a part of Colombia for more than 50 years”

“Our InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand has been a part of Colombia for more than 50 years,” says Jim Anhut, Chief Development Officer, IHG, Americas. “There is no other international hotel company that has had such a continuous presence in the country. We value the opportunity to expand our portfolio, and I’ve no doubt that the InterContinental Cartagena will be a triumph.”

“We had the opportunity to evaluate a number of the international hotel companies working in Colombia,” adds Carlos Alberto Serna, General Manager of Espacios Urbanos, S.A. “After finalizing that process, we felt that IHG, and the legacy and value proposition of InterContinental Hotels in Colombia, best suited the long-term goals for the property.”

“We are very proud to be working with Espacios Urbanos S.A.,” concludes Alvaro Diago, COO, IHG, Latin America and Caribbean. “They are a very highly-regarded development organization within this region and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”
IHG currently has five hotels in Colombia: two InterContinental, one Crowne Plaza, and two Holiday Inn Express properties. The company is also experiencing continued growth of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand in Mexico as well.

“In addition to the signing of the InterContinental Cartagena, we are delighted to have signed another fantastic InterContinental hotel with Grupo Presidente in Mexico City,” said Anhut. “We look forward to the development of the Presidente InterContinental Santa Fe Mexico City and continuing to grow our strong relationship with Grupo Presidente.”

As the world’s first truly global hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, established in 1946 in Brazil, has had a continuous presence in Latin America. There has been no brand in the region with more international appeal. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts strives to provide its guests with an experience that is unique to each destination and prides itself on maintaining uncompromised global standards and respect for the heritage of the communities each hotel calls home.

IHG has nearly 190 hotels in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, and has been serving Latin America for 64 years. IHG has hotels situated in nearly every key market throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Notes to Editors:

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. I

HG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,400 hotels and more than 650,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo(R), Crowne Plaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R) and Candlewood Suites(R) and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club(R) Rewards with 48 million members worldwide.IHG has 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 160,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.
IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com . For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media .

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Security in Colombia

Colombia Has Better Security Than Most Countries In Latin America

Its continually amazing to me how much of a bad rap Colombia receives from pretty much every major foreign news organization, which as we all know thrives off of negative news for some reason unknown to me. This hunger for negative press in general is either derived from people simply wanting to know their life really isn’t that bad, or maybe for the slight chance of seeing some blood. Who knows really.

Colombia, within the last 4 years under President Uribe, has seen a massive decline in crime, kidnappings, and more and has really turned Bogota (the country’s capital) into a main stream business conglomerate. is not as bad as mass media continually shows and as most foreigners think. Most of that perception is based in myths and in situations from the past.

Security is improving considerably

We can’t deny that in the 90s and earlier years Colombia showed some of the worst criminal records to a point it was considered as the kidnapping capital of the world. But that now has drastically changed thanks to the USA direct military training, funding, and more creating a Colombia Military force overpowering the ruthless FARC.

Kidnapping in Colombia

The situation has changed dramatically in Colombia and statistics are clear evidence of the positive changes. While in 2001 there were 3,500 kidnappings a year in Colombia, in 2008 there were only 437 kidnappings, and in 2009 there were only 214. A 90% drop in 10 years.

In terms of kidnapping, if you compare these numbers to other countries in the region,  Colombia is far safer than Venezuela or Mexico, or even many other countries in Central and South America. For example, in Venezuela, the government decided not to publish any criminal statistics and figures a few years ago for some unknown reason.  Its estimated kidnappings account for over 150 cases in 2008, and over 500 cases in 2009. Another example is Mexico, where there were over 750 kidnappings in 2008 and over 1,024 in 2009.

Homicide in Colombia

And even the number of homicides per 100,000 per capital population is way lower in Colombia than in other Latin American country on top of Colombia is fighting a war against terrorism and drugs in the rural areas, against well known armed groups such as FARC, ELN, and the paramilitary.

Indeed, while in 2000 Colombia showed a homicide rate of 82 people per every 100,000 habitants, by 2009 the homicide rate was 36 per every 100,000 inhabitants. Again, this small number while the war against terrorism and drugs was taking place.

When homicide rates are compared with other countries in Latin-America, we can see that the homicides rates in El Salvador (72), Honduras (58) Venezuela (52) and even Jamaica (49), show a worst situation than Colombia.

If we compare the situation in the major cities of other countries, we can see that Ciudad Juárez in México, Caracas in Venezuela, New Orleans in the United States, Tijuana in México, and even Cape Town, in South Africa (one of the cities where the next World Soccer Cup will be played) show a higher homicide rate than cities like Medellin, Colombia (the city in Colombia with the largest homicide rate). Medellin also has the same homicide rate than Baltimore in the United States.

So, when thinking about the security in Colombia, please consider our research and statistics and understand everything is “relative”.  The chances of getting kidnapped in Colombia are much lower than in well known places like Cancun, Mexico. There are lots of places to visit in this beautiful country and you will be amazed and sometimes overwhelmed by the level of security that exists within all the major cities and in most of the Colombian territory.

If you are still concerned about the security in Colombia, I would advise you to visit some web pages with detailed information and avoid visiting areas authorities and locals consider unsafe. One of the best websites we have provided a link here  www.seguridadenlinea.net.

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Tourism in Colombia |

Colombia Tourism Is Growing

During the first quarter of 2010, tourists coming to Colombia grew 10,8%, from 311,363 tourists in January and March 2009, to 345,138 in the same period of time in 2010.

“The number of tourists coming by ocean cruises grew 16.2% from 149,964 to 174,313 passengers”,  the Foreign Affairs Industry and Commerce Minister Luis Guillermo Plata stated in the conference a few days ago during the 20th Tourism Symposium in Ibagué,  Tolima;

This increase has generated larger sources of income coming from tourism in Colombia. By the third quarter of 2008, tourism accounted for US$ 2,5 billion, while by the same period of  2009 it accounted for US$2.7 billion showing a 6.5% increase in revenues. Tourism ranked in the third place of relevance for Colombian GDP after petroleum and coal which is a surprising statistic considering the negative stereotypical beliefs most people have about this prosperous country.

Colombia Tourism minister

The Colombia Tourism minister also informed that the number of passengers that came to Colombia by air increased 39%, from 1,401,000 in January and February 2009 to 1,953,000 passengers in January and February 2010. The number of national flights increased by 203 additional flights a week, mainly in routes to Cartagena, Medellin, Cali and San Andrés.

According to Plata, some of the factors that influenced this increase was mainly accredited to a 16% reduction in air tickets due to the increase in routes and flight frequencies, a recent agreements reached with Barbados, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, and also the upgrade and extension of agreements with the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba and the UK.

Minister Plata also announced the next Tourism Symposium to be held in Boyaca this year. We will write more about this as it gets closer on where and how to attend.

I hope focus and increase in tourism can continued in the future for its becoming a vital part of Colombia’s culture and main income source, not to mention all the benefit this income will have for the local people and growth of this amazing nation. Colombia is an amazing country with so much to offer regarding tourism, I and many Colombians hope the new government officials taking office this year keep working towards a greater increase in tourism for Colombia. VIVA COLOMBIA!

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Santa Fe Colombia

The historic town of Santa Fe, located in the Cauca river valley North of Medellin, is a popular weekend getaway for residents of Medellin as well as tourists.  The opening of the Tunnel of the West (which reduces the driving time to 50 minutes between the locality and Medellin) in 2006 has allowed hundreds of tourists and local residents of Medellin easy access each weekend as a convenient getaway.

The valley is at a lower elevation and warmer than Medellin thereby offering a perfect environment for lounging by the swimming pool. There are numerous small resorts and a few resort type residential communities along the road that runs through the valley leading to the town of Santa Fe.

Founded in 1541 by the Spaniards, Santa Fe is a quaint little town with churches, shops, an open air market in the main plaza, and restaurants. There are also a few small quaint hotels that offer weekend packages including rooms and meals.

There are a few shops that sell gold jewelry with the gold obtained locally from numerous small mines. In fact, gold mining has been a big part of Santa Fe’s economy for hundreds of years.  Another attraction of Santa Fe are two film festivals held annually with one in July/August and the other in December.

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Using GPS in Medellin

I recently bought a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver to use it in Medellin since I just started helping a friend with marketing the shoes she makes. Unfortunately,  I don’t know the city Medellin that well and here people usually don’t use street addresses but just physical landmarks as directions, even for business meetings!

So instead of saying “see you at the 10th Street building number 43-50”, they say “see you at the building behind El Poblado Church with the yellow door”. If you are not familiarized with the different points of interest all round the city you probably won’t find anything just by asking for directions.

Anyway, I knew some areas but I was not ready to take the chance of getting lost, especially when my friend counted on me. Although some people proposed that a GPS in Colombia might not work or might not help you find anything, the truth is that I was able to find all the addresses I intentionally set  out to find! It was amazing!  Some places I found would have been impossible without my new little GPS Toy.

Using a GPS in Sabaneta

After this initial test above and after using the GPS within Medellin, Envigado, Sabaneta and even Bello (very challenging area to navigate), I decided to go out of the city on Saturday to a restaurant someone recommended. This hot spot was a couple miles from Rionegro and about 10 miles from Medellin—a short trip that was not problem for my GPS friend. The Colombia GPS can help you find toll booths, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, and even spas within the points of interest list, just like if you were in the USA or Europe. And the best thing is these are constantly updated.

Using GPS in Envigado

Surprisingly I found the restaurant with the GPS Points of Interest feature, the trip was quite smooth, and we didn’t have to ask for directions but just follow the route traced by the GPS system. I still have to try it in a longer trip but for now, I can tell you a GPS is an excellent guide if you are visiting Medellin and her surrounding areas.  Just make a plan of the points you want to visit and enter them in the GPS, you will be surprised by the precision, details, and the comfort it provides to your trip.

I almost forgot, in Medellin you can get a new GPS receiver from $249 or a used one from $150 in most department stores around the city. Or you can bring yours from your own country, it should work also.

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Green Architecture in Medellin

A few days ago I was looking around for interesting buildings in Medellin, Envigado and Sabaneta. I found many, but this is one I really liked.

I found it just about six blocks from Parque Lleras in El Poblado and one or two blocks from El Poblado Square on 9th St (Calle 9) and Carrera 45. It is an “L” shaped commercial building where you can find a jewelry store at the entrance, a dessert shop next to it, a chicken wings shop in the second floor and next to that a hamburger shop. Not to mention there is also a parking lot where you can leave your car while eating or shopping for jewelry.

The food is good, I specially love the chicken wings, but what I found really interesting is that this is building is ‘green’, because it recycled about 8 shipping containers in its construction. Take a close look at the pictures, you will see the entire structure of walls and ceilings are made of the shipping containers that once were used to transport your car, computers or even the food you eat.

I have seen this green architecture style is used in Europe and in the USA, and it is quite cheap because in the United States houses are made of shipping containers and prices drop to only $99,000 for a three floor house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. So anyway, I was very excited to find there are architects in Medellin trying new building techniques.

Back to the food and the jewelry, you have to try the chicken wings at this place…very tasty and the price is very accessible. However, if you are really hungry, try the hamburgers for they are also tasty and quite big. And for those who like desserts (everybody I assume) try the dessert shop; they offer great desserts some of which are only found in Medellin and Colombia. And finally if you want to take a souvenir with you, why not a designer made jewel? Some of the rings and necklaces they have are accessible enough to be bought as souvenirs.

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Altavista Township of Medellin

Altavista is one of 5 townships of the municipality of Medellin. It borders the San Cristobal township and urban Medellin to the north, the San Antonio de Prado township to the west, the Itagui municipality to the south and urban Medellin to the east.

Altavista is  located in the southwest of the municipality of Medellin and possesses an area of 9.4 kilometers.

Medellin’s Altavista is…Trails and Horses!

The trails located in Medellin’s district of Altavista were originally built by the Nutibara Indians, and subsequently traversed by Spanish colonists. Today, the Altavista trails, located in the west of Medellin, are considered of great historical and cultural importance for Medellin.

These beautiful, prosperous lands is where the history of Medellin’s Aburra Valley begins.

What to do in Altavista, Medellin

If you enjoy an exciting adventure on horseback exploring the Arrieria trails, then Medellin invites you to travel around Altavista.

On horseback, sporting a traditional sombrero and poncho, visitors to Medellin’s Altavista begin their trip at the Tragedy Inn, or “Fonda la Tragedia,” located on Altavista’s Buga trail.

La Virgen, el Alto El Barcino and the traditional houses are some of the places where travellers can stop to rest, rehydrate and enjoy the beautiful panoramic views of Medellin’s Aburra Valley.

Festivities and Events of Medellin’s Altavista

Celebration of the Patron Saint Our Lady of the Rosary of the Rock (Fiestas Patronales Nuestra Señora del Rosario de la Piedra)

In 1857 the Virgen appeared in a rock in Medellin’s Altavista area. Since that appearance, Medellin’s Altavista spends 9 days celebrating this event’s anniversary each year, where individuals can enjoy the markets, mass and offerings to the Virgin.

Altavista’s Kite Festival (Festival de Cometas)

Altavista Kite Festival in Medellin

Altavista’s kite festival takes place each year during the end of June, taking advantage of the breezy winds that grace western Medellin during that time of year.

Approximately 5,000 kite flyers attend Medellin’s Kite Festival, where they enjoy lively music and talented orchestras. The only requirement is that you bring your own kite!

Places of Interest in Medellin’s Altavista

Altavista, Medellin’s Indigenous Groups

An array of cultural groups call Medellin’s Altavista home, where they participate in traditional dances, Andean music and much more.

Altavista, Medellin’s Stone Walls

From the heights of the Llano sector, visitors can appreciate the intricate collection of walls in the valley below, made from stone to separate farmers’ properties approximately 150 years ago. Some stone walls were most likely built by ancient indigenous groups as well.

Altavista, Medellin’s Las Ladrilleras Monument

The Las Ladrilleras monument (Brick Kiln monument) is located in front of the Government’s House, which is Altavista’s first kiln to make bricks. The brick kiln came from Germany and represents the beginnings of modernization for this productive sector.

Medellin’s township of Altavista has been making bricks and profiting off the craft for decades, including records dating back as early as the twentieth century.

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