Sensationalist tourism in Colombia

Last week my cousin sent me a link to a tour of Colombia entitled Coffee, Coca, and Gold. It is offered by Excursionist, a high-priced members-only tour agency. The trip takes visitors to the Gold Museum in Bogota, coffee farms in Quindio, and the coral islands of Cartagena. The highlight is a visit to late druglord Pablo Escobar's sprawling, tacky ranch, Hacienda Napoles, and a personal conversation with Escobar's brother in Medellin. I assume this latter activity is the justification for the $16000US price tag.

The tour kind of pisses me off. No, not because of its offensive, sensationalist, cliched insistence on Colombia's reputation as being little more than a haven of druglords. What irritates me is that I have offered essentially the same tour (at an eighth of the price!), and have difficulty finding takers. My tour takes visitors to the Gold Museum with a personalized tour, to the sights of urbane Medellin, to a quaint, authentic coffee farm, and through Cartagena. Lodging is exclusively in boutique hotels, just as the Excursionist tour offers. I expose visitors to a wide range of Colombian history, culture, and current events. Missing from my tour is the stay on a private Caribbean houseboat, the visit to a gold mine (though I offer a lecture with emerald experts), and of course the personal contact with an Escobar. However, knowing the prices of features and accommodations (in fact, my visitors stay in the same hotel in Medellin as on the Excursionist tour, the lovely, avant-garde Art Hotel), I think the Coca, Coffee, and Gold tour is way overpriced, even taking into account the exclusive Escobar visit and houseboat lodging. I don't spite them for their high price; if they can find people willing to pay $16000 for their tour, then more the power to them. I just feel bitter that I have such trouble scrounging up tour groups when I'm offering a similar (and perhaps superior) product!