Credit: 2021 Ecuador Ministry of Tourism
How important is the U.S. market?Â
It’s super important, because the U.S. [represents] 40% of the international market. We’re working very hard to improve the connectivity between Ecuador and the U.S.Â
At the moment, we only have [nonstop] connections from Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and New York, but we’re working hard to have other cities, especially on the West Coast.
At the moment, we only have [nonstop] connections from Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and New York, but we’re working hard to have other cities, especially on the West Coast. A few months ago, we eliminated a tax that the Ecuadorean government charged American carriers, and we want to sign an open skies agreement. We’re very close to doing that.
Has Ecuador recovered its pre-pandemic airlift?Â
We’re at about 60% of recovery at the moment, but the 40% that we haven’t recovered is from a national airline that went bankrupt, Tame, so we have to fill that gap. We have a new airline that starts operating Dec. 20 called EquAir. They will start flying to Quito, Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands and then they will continue expanding to other cities.Â
What kind of travelers is Ecuador attracting today?Â
We’re attracting educated travelers who are looking for a unique and authentic experience, so they can evolve and learn something new in their travels. Ecuador is a great destination for that because we’re still kind of an off-the-beaten-path destination. It’s an emerging country for tourism, so it’s perfect for those travelers who want a story to tell. We’re full of stories.Â
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In this roadshow, you have people from Cuenca, from Quito, from Guayaquil. Each is probably less than one hour [by air] from the others, but they’re all completely different — culture-wise, our accents, our food, our architecture. It’s a very small country, so you have Latin America in a nutshell.Â
How are you working with travel advisors?Â
We want our tour operators and hoteliers to develop strong ties with the American trade, so that’s our job. We want to facilitate and create better relationships for them so they can have more business and bring more travelers to Ecuador. We’re also working on an Ecuador specialist program for travel agents from all over the world, to educate them and help them learn more about the country. That’s a new program we’re developing, and we hope to have it ready by April 2022.Â
How would you describe Ecuador’s pandemic recovery?Â
In December, we’re going to have about 85% of all Ecuadorians older than five years old fully vaccinated, so that’s a huge success. Every month we’re recovering our tourism. We’re getting to the numbers of 2019. But we still have a lot of work to do.
The ministry of tourism has organized the roadshow and we’re working on the nomad visa, which is something we’re going to launch in the next few months. We’re doing everything in our power to speed the recovery.Â
The Details
Ecuador Ministry of Tourism Â
Source link : https://www.travelagewest.com/Travel/Central-South-America/Ecuador-Travel-Covid-Tourism-Strategy
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Publish date : 2021-12-07 03:00:00
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