Frank Spitzer has driven through 30 of Colombia's 32 departments, often behind the wheel of a Land Cruiser on roads that barely qualify as roads. His verdict after more than a decade in the country: the raw material for a world-class tourism industry is all there — it's the plumbing that's missing.
Spitzer, a former Swiss banking and finance professional, arrived in Colombia in 2015 to do an MBA in a language he didn't yet speak. He had shortlisted Mexico and Colombia after comparing ten factors across Latin America's big economies, and picked Colombia partly because security was trending in the right direction. The trip that followed opened his eyes: extraordinary biodiversity and cultures, almost no international tourism machinery. He founded his own operator, Pelecanus, and never went back to banking.
His favourite corners are the ones most foreign visitors have never heard of. Punta Gallinas at the continent's northern tip, the jungles of Putumayo, the plains of Casanare and Meta, and Guainía, where the Mavecure rock formations jut out of the rainforest and pink river dolphins swim past Indigenous communities. What these places lack in infrastructure, he argues, they make up for in a sense of genuine adventure that's increasingly rare elsewhere.
But operating there is expensive and complicated. Pelecanus splits its product into segments — luxury, ecotourism, birdwatching, safari, corporate travel — because a high-end guest wants wild scenery but still expects working air conditioning and punctual transfers. Spitzer is upfront with clients before they book: Colombia doesn't run on Swiss time, and delays or weather disruptions are part of the deal.
Security has improved dramatically since his first visit in 2011, when military checkpoints and tanks lined certain routes; by 2015 many had become ordinary police controls. Still, he says current security concerns and negative headlines matter enormously for the country's image — and recent turbulence, aviation worries and news coverage did slow his business before enquiries picked up again in recent months.
His biggest complaint isn't the attractions, though. It's that roads take decades to build, bureaucracy and taxes make running a formal business unnecessarily painful, and underinvestment keeps Colombia from competing with neighbours like Mexico. Fix those, he believes, and the country — still at the very start of its tourism story, with millions of foreign arrivals already proving the demand — could grow into something far bigger. He's even eyeing golf tourism as a next niche.
Why should travellers care? Because this is the window. Colombia's remote regions are still cheap-ish, uncrowded and thrilling precisely because mass tourism hasn't arrived — but that won't last forever. Go with a realistic mindset, build buffer time into itineraries, and let an experienced local operator handle the logistics in roadless places.
