Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Cartagena
SUMMARY
Yes, Airbnb is still worth it in Cartagena, but only when the property is bought cheaply enough, can operate legally, and does not need aggressive occupancy or nightly-rate growth to justify the investment.
Tourist demand is not the weak point. Cartagena recently set a passenger record at Rafael Núñez International Airport, international traffic is still growing, and peak travel periods remain extremely busy.
The pressure is coming from the hosting side. Cartagena went through a rapid short-term-rental supply expansion, and the market now looks more like a shakeout than another easy growth phase.
Occupancy around the mid-50% range is workable, but it leaves little room for lazy underwriting. A normal unit can still sell close to 190 nights a year while sitting empty for roughly half the calendar.
The biggest recent change is pricing power. AirDNA shows occupancy recovering while average daily rates fell almost 20%, which means hosts are filling more nights partly by accepting lower prices.
The reported 59.5% jump in average annual revenue should therefore be treated cautiously. RevPAR is slightly down and active supply has contracted sharply, so part of the revenue increase may come from weaker or inactive listings disappearing from the measured pool.
A citywide gross revenue figure around $18,000 to $21,500 can produce very different investments. Around a $150,000 purchase price it leaves plenty of room for costs; around $300,000 it can struggle to beat a conventional long-term rental after management and operating expenses.
Neighborhood prestige is not the same thing as investment quality. Centro can cost more than twice the citywide price per square meter, while El Laguito, El Cabrero, Manga and Crespo can offer a much lower acquisition basis without leaving Cartagena’s tourism orbit.
Professional management changes the economics fast. A foreign owner giving up roughly 20% or more of revenue to a manager, then paying platform fees, utilities, maintenance and condominium costs, is running a very different business from a self-managing host.
Legal operability now belongs inside the valuation model. Cartagena has already stopped unauthorized tourist rentals in a Historic Centre building, so a unit should not be priced as an Airbnb until the building rules, approved use and RNT eligibility have been checked in writing.
The strongest mainstream deals are usually ordinary, legally rentable apartments with a low enough entry price, useful amenities and a location tourists already understand. The easy version of Cartagena Airbnb investing has faded; the return now comes from buying and operating better than the average host.
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Is Airbnb Still Worth It in Cartagena?
Why are people questioning Airbnb in Cartagena now?
Airbnb in Cartagena is still a real investment opportunity today, but the market has become much less forgiving than it was during the easy-growth phase.
The clearest reason is competition. Airbtics counted 8,820 active short-term rentals at the start of the year, after supply had jumped 29% over twelve months and more than doubled over three years. During that expansion, median revenue fell 1.6% and occupancy dropped 5.1%. Adding thousands of rentals was clearly putting pressure on existing hosts.
More recent AirDNA data tells us that the market has since changed again. It currently tracks 9,777 active rentals, but that figure is 38.3% below its comparable level a year earlier. Occupancy has recovered to 53%, while average nightly rates have dropped sharply.
We should be careful comparing Airbtics and AirDNA directly because their methodologies differ. Still, the broader pattern is useful. Cartagena went through a big supply expansion, weaker operators faced more pressure, and the market now seems to be sorting itself out.
The question today is therefore much more specific than whether Airbnb “works” in Cartagena. We need to know whether a new buyer can still earn enough after paying current property prices and the full cost of running a short-term rental.
| Cartagena short-term rental metric | Airbtics earlier snapshot | Latest AirDNA reading | What we learn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active rentals | 8,820 | 9,777 | Cartagena remains a roughly 10,000-unit STR market |
| Occupancy | 56% | 53% | Bookings remain around the mid-50% range |
| Average nightly rate | $86 | $119 | Provider methodologies differ |
| Annual revenue | $18K median | $21.5K average | Typical gross revenue remains around $20K |
| Supply trend | +29% YoY | -38.3% YoY | The market has moved beyond the expansion phase |
Are tourists still coming to Cartagena?
Tourism in Cartagena is still strong today, so weak visitor demand is not the main problem facing Airbnb owners.
Rafael Núñez International Airport handled 7.76 million passengers in 2025, the highest annual total in its history. Passenger traffic grew 3.27% from the previous year, with international traffic increasing 4.9% and domestic traffic 2.8%.
The year also started strongly. The airport reported 335,714 passengers during the first 13 days alone, 5% more than during the same period one year earlier.
Cartagena's official tourism department saw the same strength during the Christmas and New Year season. More than 1.3 million visitors entered the city over that period, around 40% more than during the comparable previous season.
These numbers are large enough to rule out a simple “Cartagena tourism is fading” explanation for weaker Airbnb pricing. The city continues to attract millions of visitors, international arrivals are still growing, and peak periods remain extremely busy.
What has become harder is turning that tourism into high returns when thousands of other hosts are competing for the same guests.
Get fresh and reliable data on the Cartagena property market
Zona Norte is sold on an avenue, a beach club and a school that are still drawings, at the price the walled city charges. Where asking prices sit furthest from what places earn and resell for.
Are Cartagena Airbnbs still getting enough bookings?
Cartagena Airbnbs are still getting booked today, but the average property spends roughly half the year without a guest.
AirDNA currently puts average occupancy at 53%. Airbtics measured a similar 56% over its earlier trailing period. Two different datasets therefore place Cartagena in roughly the same range.
At 53% occupancy, a property available every day would sell about 193 nights during the year and leave around 172 nights unsold.
That is perfectly workable for a vacation-rental business, especially in a destination with strong peak pricing. But it leaves very little room for lazy underwriting. An investor cannot assume 70% or 80% occupancy simply because Cartagena's hotels can hit those levels during popular periods.
It also explains why listing quality has become more important. When tourists can choose among thousands of apartments, units with weaker reviews, old interiors, bad photos, poor building amenities or aggressive prices lose nights quickly.
Cartagena still has enough guests for good Airbnbs. Average properties have to fight much harder for them.
Why are Cartagena Airbnb nightly rates falling?
Cartagena Airbnb nightly rates are falling because hosts currently appear willing to charge less to keep their calendars full.
AirDNA's latest numbers are unusually clear. Occupancy is up 16.9% from a year earlier, yet the average daily rate has fallen 19.9% to $119.
Once we combine those two movements, RevPAR comes to $63 and is down 1.9%. RevPAR tells us how much revenue an available night generates after accounting for both price and occupancy.
This is more revealing than the occupancy increase on its own. Hosts are filling more nights, but cheaper prices have absorbed almost all of the benefit.
The earlier Airbtics data helps explain how we arrived here. Cartagena had added 29% more active listings in one year, while occupancy and median annual revenue were already slipping. That kind of supply growth tends to make price competition unavoidable.
For a new investor, we would be cautious about assuming strong future nightly-rate growth. A deal that only works if a $119 night becomes a $150 night probably does not work today.
| AirDNA metric | Current level | Year-over-year change | What is happening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupancy | 53% | +16.9% | More available nights are being booked |
| Average daily rate | $119 | -19.9% | Hosts have cut pricing heavily |
| RevPAR | $63 | -1.9% | Revenue per available night has barely held up |
| Active rentals | 9,777 | -38.3% | Measured active supply has contracted |
Everything a foreign buyer should know before buying in Cartagena
The pack also covers how far below asking to go, which fees to refuse, and what a seller hopes you will not check.
Is Cartagena Airbnb revenue really up 59%?
The reported 59.5% jump in average Cartagena short-term-rental revenue looks much stronger than the underlying market actually is.
AirDNA currently reports $21,500 in average trailing annual revenue per active rental, up 59.5% from its year-earlier comparison. Taken alone, that sounds like a spectacular year for hosts.
But other AirDNA figures point in a different direction. Revenue per available night is down 1.9%, nightly prices are down almost 20%, and the number of active rentals in the dataset has fallen 38.3%.
Those numbers can coexist if the mix of properties being measured has changed. When inactive, seasonal or poorly performing listings disappear from the active pool, average annual revenue among the remaining properties can jump without every surviving host suddenly earning 60% more.
Earlier Airbtics data also showed median revenue falling rather than soaring while supply was expanding.
So we would not underwrite a Cartagena investment using the 59.5% growth figure. A more conservative reading is that active operators are doing better than during the worst of the oversupply period, while the amount earned from each available night remains roughly flat.
How much can a normal Cartagena Airbnb make now?
A normal Cartagena Airbnb currently appears capable of generating roughly $18,000 to $21,500 a year in gross booking revenue.
Airbtics measured $18,000 in median annual revenue over its earlier trailing period. AirDNA's latest figure is $21,500 per active rental.
That gives us a reasonable citywide working range of around $1,500 to $1,790 per month before expenses.
And “before expenses” does a lot of work here.
Booking revenue still has to cover platform fees, electricity, internet, air conditioning, cleaning coordination, maintenance, furniture replacement, condominium charges, taxes and any management fee paid to someone running the property.
A $20,000 revenue number can support an excellent investment at a low purchase price and a very mediocre one at a high purchase price.
| Purchase price | Gross yield at $18K revenue | Gross yield at $21.5K revenue | If 60% of $21.5K remains as NOI |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150K | 12.0% | 14.3% | 8.6% |
| $175K | 10.3% | 12.3% | 7.4% |
| $200K | 9.0% | 10.8% | 6.5% |
| $250K | 7.2% | 8.6% | 5.2% |
| $300K | 6.0% | 7.2% | 4.3% |
The zones and projects in Cartagena that are most overpriced
Zona Norte is sold on an avenue, a beach club and a school that are still drawings, at the price the walled city charges. Where asking prices sit furthest from what places earn and resell for.
Does Airbnb still pay more than a normal rental in Cartagena?
Airbnb can still beat a long-term rental in Cartagena, but the extra return is often much smaller than the gross revenue makes it look.
Global Property Guide's latest Colombian rental data puts Cartagena at an average 5.58% gross long-term rental yield. That is low by Colombian standards: Bogotá is around 7.7%, Medellín around 7.25% and Barranquilla close to 7.5%.
Tourism-heavy property prices explain part of Cartagena's gap.
Now consider a $200,000 apartment generating $21,500 through short stays. The headline Airbnb yield is 10.8%, almost twice Cartagena's typical long-term yield.
But suppose 60% of the Airbnb revenue remains after normal operating expenses. The yield falls to about 6.5%. If only half survives because the owner uses expensive full-service management or has high building and maintenance costs, it falls to 5.4%.
At that point, Airbnb is producing about the same return as a normal rental while requiring far more operating work and carrying greater regulatory risk.
The short-term strategy becomes much more attractive when the owner self-manages, buys below market, achieves above-average revenue or combines those advantages.
How much do Airbnb managers take in Cartagena?
A foreign owner using full-service Airbnb management in Cartagena should expect management alone to absorb roughly one-fifth of booking revenue, and sometimes more.
Published local pricing gives us a useful range. Cartagena Hospitalidad advertises a 20% revenue commission. Renteo starts its full-service management at 20% plus VAT. Other local operators advertise fees approaching 30% per reservation.
Then Airbnb takes its own platform fee. Under its traditional split-fee structure, many hosts pay around 3%, while properties using certain management software and other host categories can fall under Airbnb's single-fee structure at around 15.5%.
Those fee structures differ, so adding 20% management and 15.5% Airbnb fees to every Cartagena property would exaggerate costs.
Still, the economics are hard to escape. An overseas investor who wants someone else to handle pricing, guests, check-ins, maintenance and problems during the night is giving away a meaningful part of gross revenue before paying the apartment's other bills.
Passive Airbnb ownership and self-managed Airbnb ownership are almost two different investments.
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Are Cartagena's tourist neighborhoods too expensive for Airbnb?
Some of Cartagena's most popular tourist areas are currently expensive enough to make Airbnb yields surprisingly difficult.
TuLugar's latest monitored listings put Cartagena's overall asking price at roughly $2,500 per square meter. Centro sits around $5,600, more than twice the citywide level. Bocagrande is around $3,500, El Laguito around $2,670 and Manga roughly $1,730.
Those gaps are enormous.
A tourist may pay more to stay inside the Walled City, but an investor can also pay more than twice as much per square meter to own there as in Manga. The nightly-rate premium has to compensate for that much larger purchase price before Centro produces the better return.
The same issue appears in Bocagrande. It is easy to rent, easy for tourists to understand and full of buildings with pools and sea views. Those advantages are already reflected in property values.
Cartagena investors should therefore spend less time asking which neighborhood commands the highest Airbnb rate and more time asking how much booking revenue they can generate for every dollar invested.
| Neighborhood | Current monitored asking price | Relative position | Airbnb reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centro | ~$5,600/m² | More than 2× citywide | Excellent guest location, hard yield |
| Bocagrande | ~$3,500/m² | Premium | Proven demand, heavy competition |
| Castillogrande | ~$3,400/m² | Premium | Expensive entry point |
| El Cabrero | ~$2,700/m² | Near city average | Close to tourist core |
| El Laguito | ~$2,670/m² | Near city average | Strong tourism/value compromise |
| Manga | ~$1,730/m² | Large discount | Much lower acquisition basis |
| Torices | ~$1,900/m² | Value | Higher property-selection risk |
Is Centro Histórico actually the best place for an Airbnb?
Centro Histórico is one of Cartagena's best places to stay as a tourist, but we would only call it one of the best Airbnb investments when the property itself is genuinely special.
Current monitored asking prices in Centro are around $5,600 per square meter. San Diego, another prime part of the Walled City, is close to $5,500.
At those prices, an ordinary apartment has a difficult job. It needs significantly more revenue than a comparable unit in El Laguito, El Cabrero or Manga just to produce the same percentage return.
Where Centro becomes much more interesting is with properties tourists cannot easily substitute: restored colonial houses, private courtyards, rooftop terraces, pools and larger homes designed for families or groups. Those properties can compete on experience rather than price alone.
Centro also deserves extra legal scrutiny. Cartagena's authorities have already stopped unauthorized short-term renting inside a Historic Centre building after confirming that apartments with residential-only use were being offered for tourist stays.
We would pay a Centro premium for scarcity, architecture or a genuinely exceptional rental product. Paying it simply for the postcode is harder to defend.
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Is Bocagrande or El Laguito better for Airbnb today?
For pure Airbnb yield, El Laguito currently looks more interesting than Bocagrande in many comparable deals because buyers can enter at a noticeably lower price while staying inside Cartagena's main beach-tourism zone.
Current monitored asking prices put Bocagrande around $3,500 per square meter and El Laguito around $2,670. That leaves El Laguito roughly 20–25% cheaper per square meter.
The neighborhoods are adjacent, so tourists searching for beaches, sea views, pools and easy access to restaurants regularly consider both. El Laguito does not need to match Bocagrande's nightly rate to compete on investment return when the apartment itself costs substantially less.
Bocagrande still has advantages. It offers deeper restaurant and retail infrastructure, strong name recognition among visitors and a very large resale market. More than 500 sale listings are currently being monitored there.
But that popularity has a price. Colombia Bound's latest Bocagrande listings show a median asking price around $308,000, a conventional gross rental yield of roughly 5.7% and a median 202 days on the market for active sale listings.
El Laguito's main weakness is building quality. Older towers can have higher maintenance needs, dated common areas or weaker elevators and infrastructure.
We would choose the building before choosing between the two neighborhoods. At similar quality, El Laguito currently gives the Airbnb investor more room to make the numbers work.
Can cheaper Cartagena neighborhoods make better Airbnbs?
Yes, cheaper Cartagena neighborhoods can produce better Airbnb returns when their property-price discount is larger than the discount tourists demand on nightly rates.
Manga is the clearest example. Current asking prices are around $1,730 per square meter, roughly half Bocagrande's level and less than one-third of Centro's.
That price gap changes the calculation dramatically. A Manga property does not need to earn anything close to Centro revenue to compete on yield.
El Cabrero offers another interesting compromise. Current monitored values are around $2,700 per square meter, while the neighborhood sits immediately outside the Historic Centre and near the beach.
Crespo deserves attention for a different reason. It sits beside Rafael Núñez airport, has direct beach access and remains reasonably close to Centro. That can attract shorter stays and visitors who value airport convenience.
We would be more selective in these areas because performance varies much more from one street or building to another. A cheap apartment deep inside a residential area is not automatically an Airbnb bargain.
Cartagena's current price map makes one thing increasingly clear: automatically buying the most famous tourist address can mean giving away too much yield before the first guest even arrives.
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Does Cartagena have a bad Airbnb low season?
Cartagena's Airbnb market has enough year-round demand that seasonality alone should not scare investors away, although the best weeks still contribute disproportionately to annual revenue.
The city's tourism base is unusually varied. Cartagena receives Colombian holidaymakers, international visitors, weddings, conferences, cultural events, cruise passengers and weekend travelers.
The latest official peak-season figures show just how strong the upper end can get. More than 1.3 million visitors entered Cartagena during the main Christmas and New Year period, around 40% more than one year earlier.
Airport activity stayed strong immediately afterward, with passenger numbers up 5% during the first 13 days of the year.
This gives Cartagena an advantage over destinations where owners rely on one narrow summer season. Dynamic pricing still matters a lot. Losing a few ordinary Tuesday bookings is manageable; underpricing Christmas, New Year, major festivals or long weekends can cost a host a meaningful chunk of yearly profit.
So seasonality is currently a manageable part of the Cartagena Airbnb business. Poor pricing during peak periods is the bigger avoidable mistake.
Can your Cartagena condo building simply ban Airbnb?
Yes, a Cartagena apartment can be unsuitable for Airbnb even when short-term rentals operate legally elsewhere in the same neighborhood.
Colombia requires tourist accommodation providers to hold a Registro Nacional de Turismo, or RNT. For properties inside a propiedad horizontal, the operator also has to comply with the building's governing rules.
That detail can completely change the value of an apartment.
A seller or broker saying that a tower is “Airbnb-friendly” is not enough. We would want to see the Reglamento de Propiedad Horizontal, verify the property's authorized use and confirm that the unit can legally operate as tourist accommodation.
Cartagena has already shown that these rules can be enforced. In the Santo Domingo II building in Centro Histórico, the city's urban-control authority confirmed that apartments were being rented for periods under 30 days even though their licences and building rules established residential use. The city ordered the unauthorized tourist activity to stop.
Airbnb permission belongs in the purchase due diligence, before we calculate returns.
| Question to verify before buying | What needs checking | Risk if ignored |
|---|---|---|
| Does the building permit tourist stays? | Reglamento de Propiedad Horizontal | Short stays may be prohibited |
| Is the property's approved use compatible? | Urban-use/licensing documents | Building approval may not be enough |
| Can the property obtain an RNT? | Registration eligibility | Tourist operation may be illegal |
| Is registration kept current? | RNT status and renewal | Ability to operate can lapse |
| Has the building already fought over Airbnb? | Meeting minutes and administrator | Future restrictions may be more likely |
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What each zone costs, what it earns on a nightly rental, how long it sits before it sells. Plus the things nobody writes down: how far below asking to go, which fees to refuse, and what a seller hopes you will not check.
Is Cartagena actually cracking down on illegal Airbnb rentals?
Cartagena is currently enforcing short-term-rental rules enough that we would treat legal compliance as a real financial risk.
The Santo Domingo II case is important because it moved beyond warnings. After complaints and an investigation, Cartagena's urban-control authority found that several apartments in the Historic Centre were being rented to tourists despite residential-use restrictions. It ordered the tourist use to stop and required the properties to return to their approved residential purpose.
National authorities have also been looking more closely at tourism operators. Colombia's Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio opened proceedings against more than 40 accommodation providers after reviewing hundreds of complaints, including alleged problems involving declarations about whether properties were subject to condominium rules and whether tourist accommodation was actually permitted.
None of this suggests that Cartagena plans to eliminate Airbnb.
It does show that the city is increasingly separating legal tourist accommodation from properties that were simply placed online and operated as short stays without the right approvals.
For owners who are fully compliant, stricter enforcement could eventually remove some illegal competitors. For an investor who buys first and checks the building rules afterward, it can destroy the original investment case.
What kind of Airbnb still works best in Cartagena?
The strongest mainstream Airbnb deal in Cartagena today is usually a legally rentable apartment with a relatively low purchase price, useful amenities and a location tourists already understand.
For most individual investors, smaller units have an easier equation. Studios, one-bedroom apartments and compact two-bedrooms cost less to buy, appeal to a broad pool of couples and small groups, and are cheaper to furnish and maintain.
Amenities matter more these days because guests have so much choice. A pool, balcony, sea view, reliable air conditioning, fast Wi-Fi and easy walking access to restaurants or the beach can move a listing above dozens of otherwise similar apartments.
The best property type changes completely at the luxury end. A genuine colonial house with several bedrooms, a private courtyard, rooftop terrace or pool can target large groups and command rates that bear little resemblance to the citywide $119 average. That is a specialized hospitality business, though, with a much larger investment and operating burden.
For a normal apartment, we would avoid deals that require extraordinary performance. If the investment only looks attractive at 75% occupancy or with nightly rates far above comparable listings, the purchase price is probably too high.
Everything a foreign buyer should know before buying in Cartagena
The pack also covers how far below asking to go, which fees to refuse, and what a seller hopes you will not check.
How much should you pay for a Cartagena Airbnb?
For a Cartagena Airbnb earning around today's citywide average, the numbers become much less attractive once the purchase price climbs much beyond roughly $200,000–$250,000.
Using AirDNA's $21,500 current annual revenue figure, a $150,000 property starts with a 14.3% gross revenue yield. At $200,000, that falls to 10.8%. At $250,000, it is 8.6%. At $300,000, only 7.2%.
Now assume 60% of booking revenue survives as net operating income before financing and income tax. The resulting yields are roughly 8.6%, 6.5%, 5.2% and 4.3%.
A remotely managed property could retain less than 60%, pushing those returns lower.
Around $150,000–$200,000, an average-performing property still has enough gross yield to absorb mistakes and operating costs. Around $300,000, average revenue leaves very little room.
A $300,000 property can certainly work, but it needs to earn much more than the city average. We would want evidence from genuinely comparable rentals before paying that price.
| Purchase price | Gross yield at $21.5K revenue | NOI yield if 60% remains | NOI yield if 50% remains |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150K | 14.3% | 8.6% | 7.2% |
| $175K | 12.3% | 7.4% | 6.1% |
| $200K | 10.8% | 6.5% | 5.4% |
| $225K | 9.6% | 5.7% | 4.8% |
| $250K | 8.6% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| $300K | 7.2% | 4.3% | 3.6% |
Is Airbnb still worth it in Cartagena?
Yes, Airbnb is still worth it in Cartagena today, but we would only buy when the property can produce a good return without relying on rising nightly rates or heroic occupancy.
Tourist demand gives us little reason to abandon the market. Cartagena recently set a new airport passenger record, international traffic continues to grow, peak visitor periods remain extremely busy and AirDNA still shows average short-term-rental occupancy at 53%.
The harder part is pricing. Current Airbnb nightly rates are down almost 20% year over year, while RevPAR has slipped slightly. As we saw previously, occupancy has improved because hosts are selling more nights at lower prices. We would not build an investment case around rapid ADR growth from here.
Property prices create an even bigger divide. Centro currently sits above $5,000 per square meter, while El Laguito is closer to $2,700 and Manga below $1,800. Paying for the most prestigious tourist address can wipe out much of the extra revenue that address generates.
Then come operating costs. Professional management can consume around 20% or more of booking revenue before platform fees, condominium charges, utilities, maintenance and taxes. At a $250,000–$300,000 purchase price, an average-performing Airbnb can quickly fall toward returns that are no better than Cartagena's roughly 5.6% gross long-term rental yield.
We see much stronger economics around the $150,000–$200,000 range, in lower-basis tourist areas, or in properties capable of clearly outperforming citywide revenue. El Laguito, El Cabrero, selected buildings in Manga and Crespo, and carefully bought units in Bocagrande can all fit that description.
Legal status now deserves the same attention as the financial model. Cartagena has already shut down unauthorized short-term rentals where building rules and residential-use licences prohibited them. We would never value an apartment as an Airbnb until that permission had been verified in writing.
Cartagena still works for Airbnb investors. The easy version of the strategy has largely disappeared. These days, the return comes from buying the right unit cheaply enough, keeping operating costs under control and making sure the property can legally compete for Cartagena's still-large tourist market.
The zones and projects in Cartagena that are most overpriced
Zona Norte is sold on an avenue, a beach club and a school that are still drawings, at the price the walled city charges. Where asking prices sit furthest from what places earn and resell for.
OUR METHODOLOGY
This analysis tests whether Airbnb is still worth it in Cartagena by combining the factors that actually determine the return for a new buyer: tourism demand, short-term-rental supply, occupancy, nightly rates, revenue, management costs, property prices, neighborhood economics and legal operability.
We did not rely on one short-term-rental database. AirDNA and Airbtics use different methodologies and measurement windows, so we use them to triangulate the market rather than force their figures into one continuous series. Where their readings differ, we focus on the direction of occupancy, pricing, revenue and active supply together.
Headline revenue growth is treated cautiously. When annual revenue, ADR, RevPAR and active-listing counts move in different directions, we look at the group of metrics rather than assuming that one growth rate describes the experience of every host.
Tourism demand is checked against official sources rather than inferred from Airbnb performance. Key evidence includes Rafael Núñez International Airport's annual passenger record and start-of-year traffic data, plus Cartagena's official year-end tourism balance.
Property prices are based on current monitored asking-price data from TuLugar and neighborhood inventory data from Colombia Bound. We use those figures to compare the acquisition basis facing a buyer in Centro, Bocagrande, El Laguito, Manga, El Cabrero and other relevant areas rather than assuming the most popular tourist neighborhood automatically offers the best return.
Long-term rental yields from Global Property Guide are used as a simple opportunity-cost benchmark. They are not directly comparable with a fully operated Airbnb business, but they help show how much extra return short stays need to generate before the additional work and regulatory exposure become worthwhile.
The 50% and 60% NOI-retention cases are underwriting scenarios, not claims about a universal Cartagena expense ratio. They show how management, platform fees, utilities, maintenance, condominium charges and other operating costs can change the yield once gross booking revenue is converted into a more realistic operating return.
Published local management pricing from Cartagena Hospitalidad and other Cartagena operators is used to frame the cost of full-service hosting, while Airbnb's own host-fee guidance is used for the platform-fee structures. We do not simply add the highest fee percentages together because the applicable Airbnb fee model varies by host setup.
Legal operability is treated as part of the investment case. We checked Colombia's RNT framework, horizontal-property requirements, Cartagena's enforcement action in the Santo Domingo II building and national enforcement activity by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio. A property is not treated as a viable Airbnb merely because short-term rentals exist nearby.
Key sources used for this analysis include: AirDNA's Cartagena Market Overview, AirDNA's Cartagena Revenue data, AirDNA's data model, AirDNA's occupancy methodology, Airbtics' Cartagena Airbnb data, Rafael Núñez International Airport's 2025 passenger record, the airport's start-of-year traffic update, Cartagena's official year-end tourism balance, TuLugar's Cartagena market monitor, TuLugar's Bocagrande market monitor, Colombia Bound's neighborhood data, Global Property Guide's Colombia rental yields, Cartagena Hospitalidad's management pricing, Aurea Investment Capital's property-management pricing, Airbnb's host service-fee guidance, MINCIT's tourism formalization guidance, MINCIT's tourist-protection guidance, Cartagena's Historic Centre short-rental enforcement notice, the SIC's tourist-housing proceedings, and Airbnb's information for hosts in Colombia.
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