Before the pandemic, tourism was the largest source of Colombia’s foreign revenue. Per year in Medellin only, nearly 150,000 tourists spent more than $375,000,000. So obviously, there is a large segment of Medellin businesses that cater specifically to tourism. Predictably, Medellin will see that level of tourism again soon.

When the digital scanning service turned out to be a wash, I turned my attention to the impact of foreign income and what service was missing. From my own experience a couple of years before, I could have significantly benefited from help with basic things, from getting a sim card for my cell phone to opening a bank account.

Tourist agencies had their flyers and maps with their preferred hotels and hostels mentioned. Still, there was no regularly printed newsletter or magazine in English that showed various services from specifically foreign-friendly businesses.

Tranquilo VIP was born. It would be a 12 to 16-page small-format full-color magazine published twice a month. I hired David per day to meet with business owners to present the advertising plan and strategy to expand their client base to foreigners expecting to spend $2,500 each visit to the city.

Each advertisement would also display a QR code to expand the magazine’s digital version, incorporating loyalty-building social media strategies.

In addition, we met with a taxi service that operated more than 5,000 taxis plus the local Uber office. They were both quite willing to let us put magazines in their cars as a perk to care for their foreign riders. Advertisers would also receive several copies each for their customers. Between that and social media activity, our distribution was handled. The only other entity to convince was the international airport.

David Arismendy and I picked a weekday to go to the airport. Another tourist from New York I met a few days earlier tagged along. His name is Dave Peters and is shown in a couple of the photos. When our bus arrived at the airport, we went to the tourism center to check out their maps and brochures and any information packets that they provided. They appeared to be just an advertisement desk for various tourist agencies with an employee who didn’t speak English to give directions. Our little magazine was more than welcome to share space with everything else.

David asked how to find airport management to see if we could put magazine stands or a kiosk closer to the gates for direct access to passengers. My idea was to work with a local mobile carrier and offer free sim cards with a minimum data package to generate more business as tourists needed to recharge their data. I wanted to have them immediately available to foreigners as soon as they landed and entered the airport. Of course, there would also be a generous advertisement package to whichever provider stepped up to play.

We found a woman who represented the airport management company. She listened to our proposal with positive interest, like we were a solution to a problem. We didn’t know that she had other ideas for us. She asked if we would work on a proposal to manage all of their communications in English. She also explained that their company managed five other Colombian airports and would need similar services in each of them.

We thanked her for the opportunity and that if we could combine that service with our primary strategy, we would come back with a good proposal.

After meeting with more than 50 businesses, David reported that there was a lot of general interest, but they needed to see a few printed issues first. I remember that was the case when I published our small-town Texas newspaper. However, I didn’t have a business structure to back me up with finances and personnel this time, and I didn’t have the capital to publish and distribute two or three ad-free issues.

I think that this is a business project still to come. I know that if we started it in 2018 as intended, the pandemic would have obliterated the business and probably ended in debt.

But what an excellent opportunity to get the ear of the airport management company that is part of an even larger company with many more airports in Spanish-speaking countries. So I feel like there’s more to come on that front.