The other Caribbean: despite its war-torn reputation, Colombia hopes cruise ships call on its Caribbean coast.

Colombians never tire of reminding foreigners that their country is beautiful. Tourists can travel from snow-capped mountain peaks to steamy jungles. For President Alvaro Uribe, nature means business. "How is it that tourism is not a major source of economic growth, a generator of jobs and improver of wages for the workforce?" Uribe told reporters at a recent press conference with Florida tourism officials, including the state's governor, Jeb Bush.

With the murder rate at a two-decade low and kidnapping falling the president feels security is under enough control to entice tourists away from traditional destinations like Costa Rica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. "Wherever you look, Colombia is beautiful, and there are countries that have millions of tourists and only have one little place to show," Uribe said.

Colombia has its work cut out for it. Last year, 800,000 foreign tourists visited Colombia, much fewer than the 2 million tourists Costa Rica greeted. The government's plan aims to gently ease tourists in by showing them the best of Colombia, hoping those who do pay a visit will return and tour the rest of the country. To shuttle people in, Uribe wants cruises lines to call on the historically peaceful Caribbean coast. Government-backed incentives appear to be working. Hotel occupancy rates climbed by 54% in 2004 compared with 2003. In 2003, occupancy rates jumped 33%.

Business owners say they need more tourists, and now. "We hope the president is successful in drawing more cruises to we can have the same amount of cruises we had four years ago," says Adriana Michele, a New Yorker who has spent over 20 years in Cartagena running Adriana's Jewelry, which relies heavily on cruise passengers for business. "The number of cruises fell as the world began to speak badly about Colombia."

After major cruise operators began pulling out of Cartagena during the last few years, Michele's business fell by 70%, she says. Michele's main source of income comes from selling emeralds to cruise-ship passengers. According to Cartagena's port authority, some of the world's largest cruise-line operators have stopped visiting the city, including Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Cunard. "I really hope that the cruises return and return soon, because this entire economy is dependent upon tourism," says Michele.

So how do you sell as a tourist destination in a country synonymous in the minds of many with civil win, cocaine cartels and rampant kidnapping? One way is to not mention the country. In the 1980s, the Israeli tourist board ran a successful campaign promoting specific destinations in the country without mentioning Israel itself, aware that the country's name conjured up images of civil strife and suicide bombings.

"We're not ashamed of Colombia, and when they visit our country we want them to know it is Colombia, but [when] advertising for cruises to Cartagena, it does make more sense to list it as a Caribbean destination," says Gustavo Toro, director of tourism at Colombia's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism.

Authorities expect 38 cruise ships to call on the port of Cartagena in the 2004-2005 Caribbean travel season, down from 45 during the year before. The number of passengers landing could rise slightly to 43,600 this season due to larger boats calling on the port. (Comparatively, Cozumel, in Mexico, handles 2.7 million passengers a year.) But passengers only spend about $90 a day while in Cartagena, and they stay for just a day, so local hotel operators and other businesses miss out, tourism officials say. "We need the passengers to spend more than one day in Cartagena so they will spend greater amounts of money on things such as hotels, more shopping and restaurants." Toro says.

Warning. Uribe has requested that the U.S. State Department change its travel warning on Colombia. He says the stiffly worded warning keeps families from looking at Colombia as a Caribbean getaway. It reads: "Violence by narcoterrorist groups and other criminal elements continues to affect all parts of the country, urban and rural."

These warnings have real effects. Carnival Cruise Lines, the biggest in the industry, has this to say about Cartagena, according to a written statement from company spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. "At times Cartagena has been the subject of U.S. government advisories warning against travel to Colombia. When such an advisory is in place, it puts us in a difficult position and we have in the past canceled scheduled calls at Cartagena under these circumstances."