BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- President Alvaro Uribe promised hotel managers that tourists arriving in cruise ships to the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena would soon be escorted by soldiers and police officers upon arriving to the port -- and even during their stay in the walled colonial city.

Speaking at a conference for Colombia's hotel industry, Uribe said his government has every intention of "showing members of the international community that we are serious about our commitment in getting them to come here".

Nearly four decades of civil war and an increase in urban terrorism over the last year have meant that many tourists steer clear of Colombia. Even Colombians fear travelling within their country, at least by road, where kidnappings by illegal armed groups are common.

Using caravans with military escorts, Uribe has prodded Colombians to start leaving their towns and cities again, and now wants to expand the strategy for international tourists.

Cartagena has historically been immune from the nation's violence. In August 2002, a bomb exploded in a taxi passing through a residential neighbourhood en route to the downtown area, killing one passenger, but terrorist attacks in the city are rare.

Uribe also announced that various hotels formerly operated by drug traffickers but now in the hands of legal hotel administrators would be open to the public by the end of the year.

The president of Colombia's Association of Hotelkeepers also promised at the conference to offer jobs in the hotel industry to 500 rebels and paramilitary fighters who have demobilised and entered a government rehabilitation programme.

The fear factor

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS