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Medellín’s Comuna 13 Neighborhood: Global Tourist Destination Despite Violent Past

Medellin Herald February 5, 2026

In 2002 – 24 years ago – Medellín’s San Javier (Comuna 13) neighborhood was a center of extorsion, kidnapping, murders and narco turf wars run by pseudo-communist gangsters including FARC, ELN and the “People’s Armed Commandos,” as well as pseudo-right-wing paramilitaries. Caught in the

Tourism

Foreign Tourism to Medellin Jumps 24% in 2016: Convention & Visitors Bureau

Medellin Herald February 9, 2017

Foreign tourism to Medellin continues to grow at a fast clip, according to latest statistics provided to Medellin Herald from the Medellin Convention & Visitors Bureau. According to the Bureau, foreign visitor counts to Medellin rose another 24% year-on-year in 2016, to 263,328, with visitors from the USA topping all others, at 75,196, up 19.7% year-on-year.

Tourism

Iberia Launches Nonstop Medellin-Madrid Flights in March

Medellin Herald November 30, 2016

Spanish airline Iberia announced November 24 that it will launch three-times-a-week, nonstop service between Medellin’s international airport and Madrid starting March 26 – hence eliminating the current stop in Cali, Colombia. The flights will employ the new A330-200 Airbus planes – 269 seats in tourist-class section and 19 seats in the business-class section, according to

Tourism

Copa’s Low-Cost ‘Wingo’ Subsidiary Launches Medellin-Panama Service December 2

Medellin Herald October 22, 2016

The new “Wingo” subsidiary of Copa Airlines announced October 20 that on December 2 it will launch four-times-a-week, non-stop service from Medellin’s international airport (MDE) to Panama Pacifico airport. The only other “low-cost” airline flying from MDE to Panama Pacifico — a former U.S. Air Force Base in the Panama Canal zone — is Medellin-based […]

Tourism

InselAir Relaunches Medellin-to-Aruba Nonstop Flights

Medellin Herald March 15, 2016

Dutch Caribbean airline InselAir announced March 8 that — thanks to the recent relaxation of visa requirements – it will resume twice-a-week nonstop flights from Medellin’s international airport at Rionegro to the Caribbean island of Aruba. “Demand has increased due to the removal of the visa requirement for Colombians in combination with the start of […]

Tourism

ProColombia Touts Tourist Growth; New Niche Opportunities for Antioquia

Medellin Herald January 11, 2016

Colombian government business development promotion agency ProColombia announced January 6 that business and pleasure-oriented tourism to Colombia continues to grow thanks in part to expanded non-stop international flight offerings to major cities including Medellin. For all of 2015, “more than 2.3 million international travelers contributed US$2.4 billion to Colombia’s

Tourism

Non-Stop International Flights to Medellin: Delta, VivaColombia Latest Entries

Medellin Herald November 16, 2015

U.S.-based airline giant Delta announced November 12 that it will begin daily non-stop service between Medellin and its huge Atlanta hub starting December 19, while Colombia-based “low-cost” airline VivaColombia launches daily service between Medellin and Miami on December 2. Delta’s Atlanta hub offers more than 1,000 daily connecting departures to markets including Europe

Tourism

Medellin Foreign Visitor Count Jumps 26% Year-on-Year; Events, Congresses Growing

Medellin Herald February 12, 2015

A new report from Colombian government promotion agency Procolombia reveals that foreign tourist arrivals to Medellin from January through September 2015 jumped 26% year-on-year, totaling 187,959 visitors. The USA continues to be the number-one source of visitors to Colombia, totaling 319,518 from January through September 2015, up 15% year-on-year, according to