Colombian Caribbean Municipality Goes From Migration Crisis to Tourism Boom
Until recently, the municipality of Necocli, on the Caribbean coast of the Uraba region of Antioquia, was one of the gathering points for migrants from different parts of the world who began from that location their journey through the Darien jungle with the goal of crossing Central America and reaching the United States. But that changed with Donald Trump’s immigration policy, and now Necocli is seeking to return to its true nature: tourism.
Today, the idyllic town is working to consolidate a tourism model based on joint work through the Collaborative Tourism Network of Necocli, made up of 32 local enterprises that want to move beyond the stage in which they were only a collection of small businesses operating independently.
A broad and participatory listening process
The new initiative launched in 2025 is promoted within the framework of the Work4Progress program, driven by the la Caixa Foundation, the Grupo Social Foundation, and Visa Foundation in Necocli and Cartagena, together with 10 civil society organizations, financial institutions, companies, and universities that lead its implementation in the territory. This work is being addressed this week by the different representatives of the entities involved, who have gathered in the coastal municipality.
Work4Progress promotes the creation of decent employment for women and young people in vulnerable situations through social innovation and collaborative work. The program is carried out in Colombia, India, Mozambique, Peru, and Ghana, and promotes solutions that emerge from the communities themselves, supported by networks of local actors, strategic alliances, and the strengthening of the population’s capacities, the la Caixa Foundation explains in a statement.
It adds that, in Necocli, Work4Progress carried out a broad and participatory listening process involving 750 people from across the territory, from rural villages to the urban center. This exercise, which involved both individual actors (84%) and associative actors (16%), made it possible to understand the real strengths, barriers, and opportunities of the community.
From there, in 2025, 12 social innovation prototypes were collectively designed, grouped into different areas: Enablers, Agriculture, Tourism, and Economic Board. One of these prototypes is the Collaborative Tourism Network, now made up of 32 local tourism enterprises that work together with the purpose of generating a greater impact and attracting more visitors to the region.
To achieve that goal, actions were launched such as diagnosing the enterprises, providing business training support, strengthening businesses, generating synergies among microentrepreneurs, and designing governance and collective work mechanisms.
“A network based on trust, communication, and common agreements was necessary,” said Andrea Zuluaga, Director of Business Transformation at Corporacion Interactuar, a nonprofit organization that participated in the first Work4Progress call in Necocli 2024-2025, quoted in the statement.
A commitment to autonomy and sustainability
The challenge for Work4Progress in this second phase (2026-2028) in Necocli is “to leave installed capacities that allow the networks created to sustain themselves autonomously, make informed decisions, and face new challenges with a more strategic vision,” explains Miller Hurtado, Director of Income Generation, Infrastructure, and Environment at the Development Vice Presidency of the Grupo Social Foundation, also quoted in the document.
In line with this purpose, strengthening connections among public, private, academic, and civil society actors has been key to the program. This process has allowed the Collaborative Tourism Network to join the Necocli Tourism Board, an important step toward promoting public policy that guarantees the continuity and support of this type of initiative, according to Fernando Torres, a representative of the Network.
In this way, the economic momentum promoted by Work4Progress seeks to translate as well into social and environmental development, helping to improve the quality of life of communities and consolidate sustainable growth in the territory.