The "Tourist Guides" of Cartagena
A behind the scenes look

Cartagena is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the southern latitudes of the Western Hemisphere. Therefore, it bears taking a quick look as to how much of the Cartagena economy "works".

As nearly everything in life is based on economics let´s begin by stating that more than 60% of Cartagena´s population exists below the U.N. poverty level of $2. u.s. per person per day. It´s accepted that Cartagena, an important port city on the Caribbean, has prices that are on average 15% above prices in the rest of Colombia. A basic reason for this additional layer of 15% fat can be attributed to the underground, commission based economy, that serves tourism. Here are a few examples:

1. Your group of a half dozen tourists heads for a restaurant. Out of now where, a smiling man greets you in English, and opens the door. He "introduces" your group to the restaurant greeter employee, implying that your group is with him. After a good meal, your group leaves for a fun night on the town. Quickly, the smiling man enters the restaurant for his 10-15 introduction commission. He gets it, because he knows from experience which restaurants (most) will comply. The restaurant menu usually states that a gratuity of 10% or so has been automatically added to you bill. The menu, however, DOES NOT state that meal prices are adjusted upward to cover the costs of paying for "introductions".

2. Same thing with most jewelry (emerald) stores, but, here, the commission (the introduction mark-up) you pay which of course is included in the price of the merchandise, can be as high as 25%! NOTE: When we first began the Portal CartagenaInfo, in 2001 we had about 15 jewelry store clients. Now we have less than a handful, all of who have one thing in common-then don´t pay commissions, and most of them advertise the this fact.

3. Most of the big 4 and 5 star hotels rely heavily on outside Internet websites that claim to sell discount: airline tickets/hotel rooms/car rentals, etc. The hotels all have websites, but when you Google for them....good luck! Their websites are STATIC, and most have not been changed or updated in years. Most hotel managers know very little about the Internet, and how to use the power of the net. Why should they? They all have their own large "sales department", which spends much of it´s time in trying to collect past dues of large convention groups that supposedly, they have "sold". The hotels promote basically, as they did 30-50 years ago, by going to Travel Shows in Madrid, Miami, etc., selling convention rooms at deep discounts, and passing out lavish and expensive brochures. This complete lack of understanding of modern marketing methods costs them, and our Cartagena economy, dearly. Cartagena hotels have some of the lowest annual occupancy rates in the business. NOTE: recently one "major" Cartagena 5 star hotel was forced, by it´s bank, to actually sell a large number of its rooms! These discount Internet companies charge the hotels a 10-15% extortion form of commission which is paid by the hotels. Obviously the hotels have to adjust their prices upward to cover the commissions. These "discount Internet commissions" are needed by the Cartagena economy, but most hotel owners and managers are financially "comfortable" and resistant to change. This is common throughout the world-wide hotel industry. You would think the big hotels would learn from the airline industry, which finally, is using the Power of The Net, and going direct to their clients issuing E (Electronic) tickets that immediately are printed out on their passengers home PC printers. This is customer convenience. This is service.

4. The Cartagena underground commission economy is so heavily entrenched, with estimates of more than a quarter million Cartagenero´s scratching for a living, that the mentality of most ALL TYPES of Cartagena business owners and managers is: "reluctant acceptance". And the "beat goes on"!

NOTE TO THOSE LOOKING TO BUY REALTY IN CARTAGENA: Mention to anyone on the street, including taxi drivers, that you are looking to buy property (a hot item in Cartagena) and you will quickly be inundated by scores of people claiming to be real estate experts, and always knowing the best and cheapest properties in town! Beware.

SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

The "Big Deal" is all about Truth in Advertising. We at CartagenaInfo promote and support Truth in Advertising, BUT we also accept that: "things are different" in poor economies. Through years of enjoyment, we have found that our overall Attitude in Life improves when we live and work in the Lower Latitudes.