I was reading this post by Peter Koz and found the perspectives interesting, so I decided to respond with the following:

It is interesting to see all the perspectives. Clearly all the people on this thread have both Colombia stamps in their passports and pretty good heads on their shoulders. Now for my two cents...

There is no question that there are some high prices in parts of Cartagena, especially in places like El Centro, but as a destination, Cartagena still has tremendous opportunity for growth ahead of it. Hopefully the city and the country will ensure that future development is done in a way that maintains the colonial charm of the old city while still providing jobs, improving infrastructure, and helping more than just the wealthy. I’d like to think a rising tide lifts all boats, but by some accounts 20% of children in Cartagena go hungry and many individuals live on $2/day.

I still see a number of areas which stand to change due to continued investment interest in the old city including the Plaza del Toro, the Historic Theater by the convention center, and the whole area of Getsemani.  Cruise ship traffic has only scratched the surface of what is possible, Cartagena is becoming more of a convention center than ever before with lots of LATAM focused events, there is talk of an additional airport between Cartagena and Santa Marta and a highway from CTG to Santa Marta already under construction.  Every year we see more air traffic into Bogota and Cartagena and with Spirit and JetBlue both flying to Colombia now, we're likely to see greater levels of comfort for American business people and tourists.  Growth in the number of tourists to Colombia has increased by between 10% and 26% each of the last 8 years and the Colombian government is investing in marketing across the USA for both for business investment and tourism.  Homicides have dropped 75% since 1993, Kidnappings have decreased 78% since 2002, terrorist attacks have dropped by 63% since 2002.  All the trends point in the right direction, yet there is a continued false perception of risk by investors, business people, and tourists which is sure to continue to diminish in the coming years.

On the whole, USA support of Colombia is unlikely to diminish any time soon and a free trade agreement is possible which will only make the large port in CTG more busy.  Hopefully Santos will continue to make the country safer and more business friendly as already in the last 5 years moving money and licensing a business has become simpler.

Macro speaking, despite the great growth we've seen in the last 5 years, Colombia still has great growth potential.  It has tremendous natural resources, well educated population 90%+ literacy rate), GDP growth which has survived the great recession (by some accounts staying positive even in 2009), great exports (legal and otherwise including petroleum, coal, cut flowers, cocaine and coffee), low inflation (2%), and proven track record of democratic elections and property rights.

Finally, it's just as easy to get the "gringo special" in New York or Baghdad as it is in Cartagena, so hold on to your wallet.  I just sold my property in San Diego and I'm now looking to invest in Getsemani.  I'm bullish on LATAM, Colombia as a country and Cartagena and Santa Marta as cities, but you have to do your homework.