Maradona looks trim after his trip to
Colombia. Photograph: Juan
Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
Colombia has always had a lot to offer the tourist. Unfortunately, in recent years it has been the prospect of kidnappings, trigger-happy guerrillas, drug gangs and one-way trips into the Darien gap, writes Tom Lutz.
But things are starting to look up for the country's tourist industry. The Lonely Planet named it as one of this year's top 10 destinations alongside China, Antarctica and World Cup host Germany, while tourist numbers are at their highest levels for over 20 years. This rise in interest in the country has been helped in part by a growth in "plastic surgery tourism".
It is estimated that in 2005, 30,000 people travelled to Colombia for tummy tucks, nose jobs, face-lifts and breast enlargements. They included Diego Maradona, whose dramatic weight loss can be put down to the stomach bypass surgery he underwent in Cartagena.
Such is the popularity of the trips that there is a profusion of tour companies that specialise in arranging flights, accommodation and surgery for tourists from the US. It is easy to see the attraction, plastic surgery in Colombia costs around a third of what it does in America.
There are concerns about this form of health tourism, however. Stella Obasanjo, wife of the Nigerian president, died during a weight-loss operation in Spain. And the American Society of Plastic Surgeons - rather unsurprisingly for an organisation that relies on people staying in the US for surgery - cautions that there are "unnecessary risks" to having surgery abroad "by unknowingly selecting unqualified physicians and having procedures performed in non-accredited surgical facilities".
And it is not just Colombia that is benefiting from the trend in getting surgery abroad. Britons facing NHS waiting lists have opted for heart surgery in India, while one cosmetic surgery website recommends Hungary for its dentists, Belgium for its easy access via the Eurostar, and Brazil for its beaches - although those hoping to show off their newly enhanced bodies in thongs and bikinis may be disappointed as patients are advised to refrain from sunbathing after surgery.
Alternatively, you could look at an option hordes of British tourists have been trying for years: £60 will get you a return flight to Magaluf, where a heady mix of Bacardi Breezers and strong lager can make anybody feel like a sex god.
