This is the tongue-in-cheek slogan recent adapted by the South American country in its latest attempt to woo tourists. And, following a recent visit, I can vouch that there is no greater risk in travelling to Colombia than anywhere else I’ve been to.

I was recently in Colombia, to attend a Travel Industry event called Travelmart Latin America, where many Latin American suppliers (hoteliers, ground agents, cruise operators) meet buyers from around the world. This year it was held in Cartagena. Prior to the travelmart, I spent some time in Bogota and also visited Villa de Leyva, covering the ground on our “Return to Colombia” itinerary which is featured in our 2008/9 Latin America brochure.

I had visited Bogota briefly last year, but spending more time in the city enabled me to orientate myself better. With 8 million inhabitants Bogota is spread out in a valley. The hotel that we use on our tour is the Sofitel Victoria Regia, and this is well situated in the thriving Zona Rosa – an area with many fine restaurants and bars, and also large modern shopping malls. The area is safe to walk around and the accommodation here is good. It should be worth remembering that most hotels in the city are geared towards the business market rather than leisure, but with a number of hotels in this area, this keeps hotels on their toes, so standards are good. The most well-known attraction in Bogota is perhaps the GoldMuseum which has a priceless collection of items, all heavily guarded. Overlooking the city is the church of Monserrate, located just over 3000 metres above sea-level and reached by either funicular or cable-car. Needless, to say views of the city are superb, and on our tour we include a typical Colombian lunch at one of the restaurants here.

My travels also took me to Villa de Leyva, a colonial city 177kms north of Bogota. I thought this was a gem, and at its centrepiece is one of the largest plazas in South America. All the old buildings are painted in white and green and the streets in the centre are all cobblestoned. Although traffic is not banned from the streets, if you love your car, you wouldn’t want to drive on these streets. The hotel I stayed at – Duruelo – overlooks the town and the hills beyond. I have never stayed at a property with so many flowers; it is a really colourful place with bougainvillea all around. The hotel also has a number of very tempting swimming pools. Our tours will take different return routes from Bogota to Villa de Leyva, to offer a variety of sightseeing stops including the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira, the pottery centre of Raquira and the lagoon at Guatavita. The roads, in the main, are very good.

Both Bogota and Villa de Leyva are relatively high up – on this part of the itinerary you will travel at elevations of around 2,200 metres to 3,200 metres above sea-level; the climate is temperate year round. This was to change on arrival at Cartagena, where on the coast the humidity is high, although a sea-breeze can make life more pleasant. Cartagena is the “must-see” in Colombia and has a beautiful historic centre with narrow streets containing some wonderful buildings, churches and hotels, many draped with colourful flowers, and also some pleasant plazas where the locals relax in the shade provided by the trees. Some buildings are in the process of being restored and in the years to come, I am sure that many will become boutique properties. Our tours of Cartagena stay in this historic centre (it would be wrong to stay anywhere else!) at the historic Sofitel Santa Clara Hotel. This hotel has a number of restaurants but if you don’t wish to eat in the hotel, there are a number of restaurants close by. Naturally, we include a tour of the historic centre and the fort of San Felipe. Music and the arts plays a large part of life in the city, and one memorable sight was catching a glimpse of a dance class with around 30 or 40 girls under 10, all wearing their elegant dresses practising their routines with their maracas, something that seems to be a dying art in the UK.

At no time did I have reason to feel unsafe in Colombia; true, there are some additional security measures when entering shopping malls or hotels and at Bogota airport on departure, security is tight, but this should not make anyone fearful of travelling to a country which has turned the tide and is ready to welcome the traveller with warmth and passion.