Is Airbnb still worth it in Colombia?

Is Colombia still attracting enough travelers for Airbnb?

Yes. Colombia currently has more than enough tourism demand to support a large Airbnb market, so a shortage of visitors is not what should worry investors.

Migración Colombia data published by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism counted 1,584,378 non-resident visitors in the first quarter of 2026, and March arrivals were up 6.7% on March 2025. International arrivals on regular flights rose 11.9% in February 2026.

That base supports several different Airbnb markets at once. Bogotá gets business travelers, events and international arrivals. Medellín attracts leisure visitors and longer-stay foreigners. Cartagena has much stronger holiday pricing, and its airport handled 7,756,298 passengers in 2025 (+3.3%). Santa Marta (3,787,551 airport passengers in 2025, +4.7%) and San Andrés add beach demand.

So we can rule out one of the simplest bearish arguments. Airbnb in Colombia is not struggling because travelers stopped coming. What has become harder is turning those visitors into a good return on a property bought at today's prices.

Are Airbnb revenues in Colombia really booming right now?

Partly. Airbnb revenue per active listing has jumped in several Colombian cities, but those huge growth percentages make the market look much stronger than the underlying economics really are.

AirDNA's data through September 2026 shows average annual revenue per active listing up 62.9% year over year in Cartagena and 88.4% in Santa Marta. Those numbers sound extraordinary.

At the same time, AirDNA counts 37.5% fewer active listings in Medellín, 32.3% fewer in Bogotá, 39.0% fewer in Cartagena and 38.3% fewer in Santa Marta. In Medellín, Bogotá and Cartagena alone, that is roughly 22,200 fewer active listings than a year earlier.

That changes how we should read the revenue numbers. The same bookings are being divided across a much smaller measured pool. Part of the drop is AirDNA's own counting (inactive, duplicate or rarely booked listings fall out of its active set), so it is not proof that a crackdown pushed a third of hosts out.

RevPAR, the revenue per available night, gives a cleaner picture. Cartagena's RevPAR rose just 0.4%, to $64. Santa Marta's rose 13.7%, to $33.

So the average Cartagena night earns about what it did a year ago: the +62.9% is mostly fewer listings sharing the bookings. Santa Marta improved for real, but from a low base.

Market	Active listings (Sept 2026)	Change in a year
Medellín	14,957	-37.5%
Bogotá	14,677	-32.3%
Cartagena	9,730	-39.0%
Santa Marta	6,637	-38.3%

Which Colombian cities look best for Airbnb today?

Medellín looks strongest for steady occupancy, Cartagena for nightly pricing and total revenue, and Bogotá for cheap entry with business demand. Santa Marta only works when the purchase is cheap.

AirDNA puts Medellín at 63% occupancy, a $72 average daily rate and about $15,500 in annual revenue per active listing. That works because demand is spread across the year rather than packed into a short high season.

Cartagena gets there differently. Occupancy is only 53%, but its $122 average nightly rate is far above Medellín's, which gives it the highest RevPAR of the big cities ($64 against about $45). The average active Cartagena listing grosses about $21,800 a year.

Bogotá is the low-price, high-utilization market. Occupancy is about 61%, while ADR is only $41. Average annual revenue is about $8,500 per listing, the lowest of the four.

San Andrés and smaller beach towns can post strong vacation-rental numbers, but their property markets are small and island logistics add cost, so we left them out of the comparison.

The secondary cities require much more price discipline. Santa Marta sits at 45% occupancy and a $72 ADR, for about $10,900 a year, while Cali and Barranquilla have lower nightly rates still. They can work when the property is cheap enough, but there is little room for an expensive purchase or costly management.

Market	Occupancy	ADR	RevPAR	Annual revenue/listing
Cartagena	53%	$122	$64	$21,800
Medellín	63%	$72	~$45	$15,500
Santa Marta	45%	$72	$33	$10,900
Bogotá	61%	$41	~$25	$8,500

Is Medellín still one of the best Airbnb markets in Colombia?

Yes, but Medellín Airbnb now makes the most sense when the building is clearly authorized for tourist use and the purchase price still leaves room for a decent return.

Medellín's demand remains hard to dismiss. Short-term rentals average about 63% occupancy on AirDNA, and revenue is relatively stable across the year.

The weaker part is pricing. ADR fell 16.4% year over year to about $72. Hosts are filling nights partly by accepting lower prices, and the city's own survey of tourist homes found occupancy of 50.5% in the first half of 2026, slightly below the 52.2% of a year earlier.

Enforcement is also more visible. The city carried out 408 tourist-housing inspections between 2024 and September 2026, which led to 105 temporary suspensions. Earlier city work found that El Poblado, Laureles, Belén, La Candelaria and Santa Elena hold about 80% of Medellín's short-term-rental supply, so that is where inspectors look first.

The city's October 2026 guidance tells operators to check the building's propiedad horizontal rules, land-use compatibility, the authorized use of the property, a separate Registro Nacional de Turismo for each unit, RUT, commercial registration and guest reporting.

For someone buying now, we would check those items before evaluating the furniture, view or projected nightly rate. A beautiful apartment that cannot legally operate as tourist accommodation can become a very ordinary long-term rental overnight.

Medellín metric	Current reading
Occupancy	63%
ADR	$72
RevPAR	~$45
Annual revenue/listing	$15,500
ADR YoY	-16.4%
Active listings	14,957
Active listings YoY	-37.5%

Is Cartagena Airbnb still worth its high property prices?

Sometimes. Cartagena can produce Colombia's strongest mainland Airbnb revenue, but expensive tourist property can absorb most of that advantage before the owner earns anything.

The operating numbers look good at first glance. Cartagena averages about $122 per booked night and about $21,800 in annual revenue per active listing.

Property prices create the tension. TuLugar's active listings put the citywide apartment median at about $2,440 per square meter in October 2026, while Bocagrande asks around $3,100 to $3,300. Historic-center apartments ask around $5,800 per square meter on Aptologia's median.

Take a simple example. If an investor pays $200,000 for a property that earns the citywide Airbnb average of $21,800, gross revenue equals about 10.9% of the purchase price.

At $400,000, the same revenue equals just 5.5%, before any cost or tax.

Those figures are not projected yields for a specific apartment because an expensive property may earn far more than the city average. They show how quickly Cartagena's Airbnb advantage disappears when the acquisition price doubles.

There is another warning in the latest data. Cartagena's ADR fell 18.0% while RevPAR edged up only 0.4%, which means occupancy rose by roughly 22%. Hosts are booking more nights without earning more from each available night.

We would still buy Cartagena for Airbnb when the property itself proves the case. We would be much more cautious about paying a large premium simply because the address says Bocagrande, Centro or the historic district.

Bocagrande is also a building site for now. Playa 2 was handed over on 6 September 2026, the coastal-protection works are due to finish in April 2027, and the first section of the "4 en 1" drainage project opened on 14 October 2026. Ask what the works mean for your building's access and noise before paying a beachfront premium.

Cartagena benchmark	Current level
Airbnb occupancy	53%
Airbnb ADR	$122
RevPAR	$64
Annual revenue/listing	$21,800
ADR YoY	-18.0%
RevPAR YoY	+0.4%
Citywide asking price/m²	~$2,440
Bocagrande asking price/m²	~$3,100–$3,300

Is Bogotá Airbnb better than most investors assume?

Sometimes. Bogotá looks better than its $41 nightly rate suggests because occupancy is high and demand does not depend on holidays.

Current Airbnb occupancy in Bogotá is around 61%. That is only two percentage points below Medellín despite Bogotá being much less associated with leisure tourism.

The catch is revenue: about $8,500 a year per active listing, the lowest of the four big markets. AirDNA also counts 32.3% fewer active listings than a year ago, so fewer hosts share that demand.

The demand mix helps explain why Bogotá behaves differently. International arrivals feed the market, but so do corporate travel, conventions, government activity, universities, medical visits and domestic business trips. A host does not have to wait for holiday travelers to fill the calendar.

With a $41 ADR, there is little room for inefficient operations. Paying 20% for management, carrying high building fees or servicing a mortgage at around 15% a year can destroy the economics quickly.

That makes Bogotá interesting mainly for compact units bought cheaply near a clear demand source. A modest apartment near a hospital, business district, university or event venue can make more sense than a nicer property bought with no specific guest in mind. Metro Line 1 was 83.73% complete at the end of September 2026, so units near future stations gain a demand source later, not today.

Are falling Airbnb nightly rates becoming a problem in Colombia?

Yes. Lower Airbnb nightly rates are one of the clearest warnings in Colombia right now because several markets are filling more beds without gaining much pricing power.

AirDNA's data through September 2026 shows Medellín's average daily rate down 16.4% year over year, Cartagena's down 18.0% and Santa Marta's down 15.6%.

In Cartagena and Santa Marta, occupancy moved the other way.

That combination tells us hosts are increasingly using price to fill calendars. Sometimes that still works: in Santa Marta, RevPAR still rose 13.7%. In Cartagena, the extra nights only just offset the lower rates, and RevPAR moved 0.4%.

This is why a 70% occupancy screenshot can be misleading. Ten extra booked nights at a much lower rate also mean more cleaning, guest communication, linen turnover and wear on the property.

We would rather own a property producing $60 of RevPAR at moderate occupancy than one boasting very high occupancy while discounting aggressively to reach it. The second listing can look busier while producing a worse business.

Is Airbnb competition in Colombia getting easier now that listings are disappearing?

For good operators, probably. Colombia still has tens of thousands of short-term rentals, but the active market is becoming less forgiving of weak properties and casual hosts.

Medellín, Bogotá and Cartagena alone still have almost 39,400 active listings on AirDNA. There is plenty of competition.

Yet the drop in active listings is too large to ignore. Medellín, Bogotá, Cartagena and Santa Marta have each lost about a third or more of their measured active supply over the past year.

We should be careful with the interpretation. AirDNA can remove inactive properties, duplicate inventory and listings that no longer meet its activity criteria, so a falling listing count does not mean every missing host went bankrupt.

Still, the direction fits what we see elsewhere. Medellín is inspecting tourist housing more often. Building administrations pay more attention to short stays. Guests have years of reviews to compare. Professional operators optimize pricing and distribution across Airbnb, Booking.com and other channels.

An average apartment with average photos and no clear advantage has a harder time surviving now.

For owners who know what they are doing, that filtering can actually improve the market. Less serious supply means fewer competitors fighting purely on price.

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Colombia today?

Yes, Airbnb is legal in Colombia, but the right to own an apartment and the right to use that apartment for tourist accommodation are separate questions.

Short tourist stays (under 30 days) fall under Colombia's tourism rules. Each unit needs its own Registro Nacional de Turismo (RNT), renewed every year between 1 January and 31 March, and liable operators pay a tourism contribution of 0.25% of operating income.

Buildings governed by propiedad horizontal create another layer. The building rules need to allow tourist accommodation. A unit inside a residential building that prohibits short stays cannot ignore that restriction because the owner has an Airbnb account, and changing the bylaws needs 70% of the coefficients (Ley 675, article 46).

Guest registration matters too. Tourism-accommodation operators use the national lodging-registration system, and foreign visitors can trigger SIRE reporting requirements.

Cities can add their own land-use and planning rules. Medellín makes this especially visible by asking operators to check whether tourist activity is compatible with the property's land use and authorized use.

We would therefore never accept “Airbnb is allowed in Colombia” as enough due diligence for a specific purchase. The useful question is whether Airbnb is allowed in that exact building and property.

Check before buying	Why it matters
Registro Nacional de Turismo	Required for legal tourist accommodation
Propiedad horizontal rules	Building must permit tourist use
Local land use	City rules can restrict lodging activity
Authorized property use	Residential authorization may be insufficient
RUT and tax setup	Needed for compliant operation
Guest registration	Accommodation providers have reporting duties
SIRE	Relevant when hosting foreign guests

Did Medellín crack down on Airbnb in 2026?

It tightened enforcement, but it did not ban Airbnb. Between 2024 and September 2026 the city carried out 408 tourist-housing inspections and ordered 105 temporary suspensions, according to the Alcaldía (25 September 2026).

The bigger change is zoning. The revision of the land-use plan (POT) proposed in September 2026 defines where tourist housing is allowed: mainly high-mix zones and some transit corridors. It is a proposal, not an approved rule yet, but it tells you which streets the city wants tourist rentals on.

On 13 October 2026 the city spelled out what it checks: one RNT per unit, renewed by 31 March, land use compatible with lodging, express authorization in the building rules, and guest registration. Unregistered or badly located units risk fines, sealing and loss of the RNT.

Before buying in El Poblado or Laureles, ask the seller for the unit's RNT certificate, the clause of the building rules that allows short stays, and the land-use certificate. Then check where the building falls in the POT proposal. A unit without those three papers is a long-term rental priced as an Airbnb.

What happened	When	What it means for a buyer
408 inspections, 105 temporary suspensions	2024 – Sept 2026	Enforcement is real in tourist areas
POT revision proposed	Sept 2026	Tourist housing steered to high-mix zones; not yet approved
City Q&A on tourist homes	13 Oct 2026	One RNT per unit, land use, building authorization, guest registration
Tourist-home occupancy (city survey)	H1 2026	50.5%, against 52.2% in H1 2025

How much of Airbnb revenue do fees and costs eat up in Colombia?

A lot. Colombian Airbnb owners can lose a meaningful share of gross booking revenue before mortgage payments or income tax even enter the picture.

Airbnb's own fee structure is one place where old assumptions cause mistakes. Airbnb has been moving most hosts to a single host-only fee of about 15.5% of the booking. The old split fee, with roughly 3% charged to the host, now only applies to hosts not yet migrated.

Management can be larger again. Full-service short-term-rental managers commonly charge a double-digit share of booking revenue, with 15% to 25% a useful broad industry range depending on the service.

Then we have building administration, electricity, water, internet, repairs, furniture replacement, linen, consumables, insurance and cleaning expenses that are not always fully recovered from the guest.

Taxes come on top. A non-resident owner pays 35% income tax on Colombian-source net taxable income; residents pay progressive rates from 0% to 39%. Airbnb says it does not withhold these taxes for you. Tourist lodging can also trigger 19% VAT for owners registered as VAT-responsible, and the exemption for foreign guests has conditions, so don't assume every foreign booking is tax-free.

A property earning $20,000 from bookings can therefore produce a very different amount in the owner's bank account. Gross Airbnb revenue is useful for comparing listings; it is a poor substitute for calculating profit.

Here is what that looks like on a real price. A 55 m² apartment in El Poblado at the area's resale asking median of about COP 8.7 million per m² costs about COP 479 million, or $150,000. Give it Medellín's AirDNA average of $15,500 a year (an average across all listing sizes, so a rough fit). With a 15.5% Airbnb fee, 20% management and another 20% of revenue for administración, predial, utilities, cleaning and repairs (our assumption), it nets about 4.6% before income tax and about 3.0% after the 35% non-resident tax.

Medellín example (El Poblado, 55 m²)	Per year	% of price
Gross Airbnb revenue (AirDNA average)	$15,500	10.3%
Airbnb host fee (15.5%)	-$2,400
Management (20%)	-$3,100
Other running costs (assumed 20%)	-$3,100
Net before income tax	$6,900	4.6%
Income tax, non-resident (35%)	-$2,415
Net after tax	$4,485	3.0%

Cost	Typical effect
Airbnb platform	~15.5% host-only fee (~3% on legacy split fee)
Professional management	15%–25% of revenue
Building administration	Fixed monthly cost
Utilities/internet	Usually owner-paid
Furnishing and repairs	Higher turnover than long-term rental
Cleaning	Depends on what guests reimburse
Income tax	35% of net taxable income for non-residents

Does Airbnb still beat long-term renting in Colombia?

Sometimes, although the Airbnb premium has to be fairly large before the extra work and costs make sense. For many properties, a 30- to 90-day furnished rental is now the more interesting middle ground.

Suppose a conventional lease produces a 6% gross yield and Airbnb produces 8%. A two-percentage-point gap sounds worthwhile until we add utilities, furniture, platform charges, management, cleaning and higher maintenance.

The Airbnb option becomes much easier to defend when the gap is something like 12% gross versus 5% or 6% on a normal lease.

For reference, Global Property Guide puts Colombia's average gross long-term rental yield at about 7.1% in the third quarter of 2026. Rent increases on existing leases are capped at the previous year's inflation: 5.10% in 2026, and likely above 6% in 2027 since September inflation was 6.29%.

This is particularly relevant in expensive tourist neighborhoods. Medellín and Cartagena investors can pay a premium for an Airbnb-friendly location, only to discover that the purchase price has risen faster than the income advantage.

Medium-term rentals change the calculation. A furnished guest staying one to three months creates fewer check-ins, cleanings and service issues while still paying more than a conventional unfurnished tenant in many areas.

Colombia's tourism rules also make the length of stay important. Tourist housing rules focus heavily on stays shorter than 30 days, although the legal treatment of any specific rental setup still needs to be checked properly.

For us, the safest property now has more than one workable use. If nightly Airbnb slows down, the same apartment should still attract a one-month guest, a three-month guest or a conventional tenant at an acceptable return.

What kind of property works best for Airbnb in Colombia now?

The strongest Airbnb purchase in Colombia today is usually a reasonably priced property with clear tourist-use permission, a specific guest base and a good fallback rental market.

Legal permission comes first. Paying slightly more for a building where tourist rentals are explicitly allowed can be much safer than buying a cheaper apartment and hoping nobody enforces the rules.

Size matters too. Smaller apartments can appeal to couples, solo travelers, business visitors and medium-term guests while keeping the purchase price manageable. Large units can work extremely well in group-travel markets such as Cartagena, but the acquisition cost rises quickly.

Location should also answer a simple question: who needs to stay here?

In Medellín, that might mean a traveler wanting El Poblado or Laureles. Bogotá properties can target hospitals, universities, offices or event venues. Cartagena needs much stronger leisure appeal because guests are paying for access to the historic center, beaches or recognizable tourist areas.

We would also test whether expensive amenities genuinely earn more money. A rooftop, pool or view can lift nightly rates, but paying another $80,000 for those features only works if the resulting revenue justifies the extra capital.

A property's return ultimately comes from the relationship between what guests pay and what we paid to own the asset. A spectacular apartment bought too expensively can still be a poor Airbnb investment.

Is Airbnb in Colombia still worth it for a foreign investor?

Yes, for a foreign investor who is comfortable running Colombia Airbnb like a real hospitality investment. It is much less attractive as a passive “buy an apartment and collect dollars” strategy.

Foreign buyers still have reasons to look at Colombia. Property remains inexpensive compared with many North American and European tourism markets, and Medellín, Cartagena, Bogotá and San Andrés all have proven short-term-rental demand. The cheap peso, though, is gone for now (see below).

Remote ownership adds friction, though. A foreign investor often depends more heavily on a local manager, accountant, lawyer and maintenance team. Currency movements can change returns measured in dollars or euros even when the property's peso income remains stable.

We would also be suspicious of any sales presentation built around a single projected Airbnb yield. Before buying, we would want actual comparable listings, building rules, evidence that tourist use is permitted, administration costs, realistic operating expenses and a second rental scenario.

The foreign buyer with the biggest advantage is the one who can walk away from properties that only work under optimistic assumptions.

Is the strong peso a reason to wait before buying an Airbnb in Colombia?

It makes buying more expensive in dollars, but waiting for a rebound is a bet. The dollar closed 2025 at COP 3,757 and is worth about COP 3,190 today (22 October 2026), so a dollar buys about 15% fewer pesos than at the start of the year.

For a buyer holding dollars, a COP 500 million apartment that cost about $133,100 at the end of 2025 now costs about $156,700, about 18% more with no change in its peso price. On top of that, new-home prices rose 8.80% in a year (DANE, Q2 2026).

The yield itself does not move much: Airbnb income is also earned in pesos, so peso revenue over a peso price stays the same. What changes is how many dollars you put in, and how many you get back if the peso weakens again before you sell.

Forecasts disagree (BBVA expected COP 3,640 at the end of 2026, Bancolombia an average of 3,420), so we would not count on a currency gain. Run your numbers in pesos, negotiate in pesos, and buy with cash: mortgages cost around 15% a year after the central bank raised its rate to 12.25% on 1 October 2026.

COP 500 million apartment	Dollar rate	Price in dollars
End of 2025	COP 3,757	~$133,100
22 October 2026	COP 3,190	~$156,700

So, is Airbnb still worth it in Colombia?

Yes, selectively. Airbnb in Colombia is still worth it today, but the easy version of the investment has largely disappeared.

Tourism demand remains strong, and several markets still produce respectable operating numbers. Medellín runs around 63% occupancy, Bogotá around 61%, and Cartagena commands about $122 per booked night.

At the same time, the newest data says be careful. Nightly rates fell 15% to 18% in Medellín, Cartagena and Santa Marta. Cartagena's RevPAR barely moved despite more booked nights. Medellín's enforcement is visible and its zoning is being redrawn. The strong peso makes a peso-priced home about 18% dearer in dollars than at the end of 2025. And a $150,000 El Poblado unit at the city average nets about 3% after costs and tax.

The best Airbnb investments in Colombia now tend to share the same characteristics: clear legal permission, a sensible purchase price, real demand from a specific type of guest and the ability to switch into medium- or long-term rental if needed.

Buy one of those properties well and Airbnb can still produce an attractive return.

Pay a tourism premium for an ordinary apartment, assume high occupancy automatically means high profit and rely on Airbnb remaining frictionless, and the numbers become much harder to defend.