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The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies pp 291–318Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

‘Pablo Escobar Tourism’—Unwanted Tourism: Attitudes of Tourism Stakeholders in Medellín, Colombia

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Abstract

Various cities and countries have a dark past which the local population and policy makers want to put behind them, to forget. Such a past may relate to particular political periods, wars, atrocities, or even specific people associated with a place. Often, however, there may not be consensus about whether a dark past should be denied or forgotten, and the debate may be further complicated by the opportunities offered by the apparent desire of tourists who want to know that past. In other words, although a place may wish to move on from a dark past, that past may represent a significant attraction to tourists.

This chapter reflects on such a dilemma faced by Medellin (Colombia), a city often linked to drugs and the related violence, and specifically to the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar, the infamous mafia leader, in the 1980s. Since then, the city has transformed and, in particular, has been striving to project a different image.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_31

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The worst period of violence of the narco-era is over; homicide rate has fallen, yet there is still violence experienced in the ‘comunas’. As Polit Dueñas describes it, ‘Although violence in Colombia is anything but over, Medellín is no longer experiencing the extreme situation it did 20 years ago, when Pablo Escobar was alive and urban violence was fundamentally caused by emerging narcos. The endemic forms of violence experienced in Medellín in the 1980s have diminished, but the comunas still are very violent places.’ See Polit Dueñas, G. Narrating Narcos. Culiacán and Medellín, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013, p. 176.

  2. 2.

    This is of course different when public policy choses to remember and memorize aspects of their past, in which case tourism can be promoted to participate in this.

  3. 3.

    Such as Light (2000a, b, 2001 on Bucharest, Berlin, and Budapest), Ivanov (2009 on Bulgaria), Balockaite (2012 on Lithuania and Poland), Bagnaresi et al. (2013 on Forli and Predappio), Van Daele (2012 on Obersalzberg, Germany), Vloeberghs (2013 on Sicily); several contributions on places in Latin American in Bilbija, K. and Payne, L.A. (eds; 2011).

  4. 4.

    Notwithstanding the wave of criticisms when the tour was launched, it is still offered by ‘Historical Trips’ (2015).

  5. 5.

    For more information on Pablo Escobar’s life and power, see Salazar (2001) and Cañon (1994). There are also the books written by his right hand, the paid assassin, alias Popeye (Velásquez 2012), by his mistress (Vallejo 2007), and by several of his relatives, such as his brother (and brother-in-crime, Roberto Escobar 2000).

  6. 6.

    Even today entrepreneurship is highly validated in Medellín. In ‘Plan de Mercadeo de Medellín, 2006–2016’ (Alcaldía de Medellín 2006), we could find a new strategic concept for positioning the city: ‘Medellín, the city where creativity flourishes’, described as ‘Medellín has always been the cradle of recursive people, who driven by their interests in growth, progress and entrepreneurship, found solutions and proposals, which make the city a place where ideas flourish and are projected with great force’ (slide 24). Ironically Escobar was very much one of those recursive people.

  7. 7.

    There exist various versions of how he died, whether he was shot by a member of the special police unit or whether he committed suicide in view of his capture.

  8. 8.

    Since this paper is not about this transformation process and its alleged results, we only refer to the way the process has been officially presented, generally in very positive terms.

  9. 9.

    La Ciudad de Eterna Primavera is one of Medellín’s epithets.

  10. 10.

    Besides the narcotrafficking-related violence, Colombia has known several decades-long armed conflicts.

  11. 11.

    Nevertheless, this is for most tourists not the reason to come to Medellín. The modern transformed city, its people, and climate are among the reasons. For backpackers, the fame as a city to party is also important.

  12. 12.

    http://www.paisaroad.com/tour-pablo-escobar

  13. 13.

    There have circulated other ideas about museums of Pablo Escobar, yet so far none has been realized. In the National Museum of Police History in Bogota, some of his belongings can be found, as well as information about the manhunt for drug criminals such as Pablo Escobar.

  14. 14.

    Public stakeholders: Subsecretaria de Turismo—Alcaldía de Medellín; Oficina de Dirección de Fomento Turístico la Gobernación de Antioquia; Proexport—actually ProColombia.

    Private stakeholders: Medellín Convention & Visitors Bureau; ANATO (Colombian Association of Travel & Tourism Agencies); ASOGUIAN (Association of Guides in Antioquia).

  15. 15.

    An individual guide told us how in one occasion she was prevented to talk about Pablo Escobar, and even denied access at a city event, when she didn’t comply. It also appeared in our interviews that some people offering tours related to Pablo Escobar, looking for some institutional help, had not obtained the attention of those institutions. And, among the recommendations of the report realized by UNOCD on narcotourism, we can find:

    Likewise, it is recommended that all travel agencies are associated with ANATO in order to accredit them and generate a control over those who are responsible to sell the city as a space of sex and drugs, or as the temple of the leader of the Medellín Cartel, Pablo Escobar. (2013, pp. 45–46)

  16. 16.

    The study of UNODC (2013) confirmed the links between drug use and prostitution.

  17. 17.

    Medellín hosted in 2014 UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum on the future of cities. During the forum, several organized tours (Medellín Lab Tours) were offered with visits to schools, libraries, parks, transportation infrastructure, and other signs of the transformation (Brodzinsky 2014; Medellín.travel 2014, and personal observations).

  18. 18.

    Some guidelines for Pablo Escobar tours might be desirable.

  19. 19.

    Although at first victims of narcotrafficking were not included—the law only considered and benefited victims of armed conflict, not of organized nor common crime, after 1985, since 2014, through a state council statement, victims of narcotrafficking are considered victims of the armed conflict.

  20. 20.

    The first idea to construct a center of documentation for the memory of the armed conflict dated from 2004. During the consecutive years, a lot of research was realized, and preparations started. Finally the building was inaugurated in December 2012 and in the following year started operating as museum (Museo Casa de la Memoria and INER 2014, pp. 10–11). In July 2015, together with other institutions, Museo Casa de la Memoria initiated the research project ‘Medellín, ¡Basta Ya!’ in which they want, through the narratives of the victims and citizens, reconstruct the violent past in the city (1980–2013).

  21. 21.

    A platform similar to Booking.com and Expedia.com, yet with a strong presence in Latin America. Semana, ‘Polémica por el “Pablo Escobar Tour”’, Despegar.com, August 18, 2015, http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/polemica-por-el-pablo-escobar-tour-de-despegarcom/439110-3

  22. 22.

    https://www.facebook.com/elespectadorcom/posts/10153590796559066?comment_id=10153591011309066&notif_t=comment_mention

  23. 23.

    http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2015/08/24/tom-cruise-in-colombia-for-cartel-related-movie-meets-with-medellín-mayor/. Referencing to the making of Mena, a film with Tom Cruise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Anne Marie Van Broeck

  2. Institución Universitaria Colegio Mayor de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia

    Anne Marie Van Broeck

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  1. Anne Marie Van Broeck
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Philip R. Stone

  2. University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA

    Rudi Hartmann

  3. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Tony Seaton

  4. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Richard Sharpley

  5. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Leanne White

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Van Broeck, A.M. (2018). ‘Pablo Escobar Tourism’—Unwanted Tourism: Attitudes of Tourism Stakeholders in Medellín, Colombia. In: R. Stone, P., Hartmann, R., Seaton, T., Sharpley, R., White, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_12

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