In Cuenca, visits from the previous holiday doubled. In Manta they calculate an income of $ 6 million. Hoteliers long for a similar outlook in December.
The expectation of the tourism sector in several cities in the country was met and even exceeded in the most recent holiday, according to different spokespersons who spoke with this medium, who expect the same to happen in December.
In Cuenca, the number of public and private events was a magnet for tourists, according to Juan Pablo Vanegas, president of the Azuay Chamber of Tourism, who said that the associated hotels were 100% occupied until Monday.
The number of visitors has not yet been consolidated, but it is estimated that the 45,000 who arrived on the holiday on October 9 easily doubled.
The leader assures that among the keys for people to have chosen Cuenca as their destination are the holding of massive events such as concerts and that private businesses (driven by economic necessity) were open every day, a situation that did not occur in past years when the vast majority of places closed their doors.
Although there is satisfaction, the tourism sector asks the Government authorities to comply with offers such as the granting of loans to achieve a “true reactivation”.
The promotion of Cuenca as a daily destination, beyond a holiday, is another of the requests addressed, instead, to the local government.
Manta, reactivada
Manta was visited by more than 100,000 people, who left some four million dollars invested in the tourism sector with a cut until Tuesday, November 2.
This was assured by Isidro Rodríguez, director of the tourism department of this city, that this Friday the 5th he will continue to celebrate his cantonization.
In Manta, the four and five-star hotels had their rooms filled 100% between Saturday and last Monday, while in hotels in other parishes, especially Tarqui, the reservation level fluctuated between 50% and 80% of the total space available.
“The holiday exceeded our expectations, we are very optimistic and we have a local holiday left … we expect revenues to rise to six million dollars until next Sunday,” said Rodríguez.
In the Puerto López canton, south of Manabí, the occupancy level of the more than 2,200 places for rest was total, leaving good returns to the tourism sector of this city, confirmed Santiago Guamaní, president of the Puerto López Hoteliers Association.
“It is certain that we will have the same amount of tourists for the end of the year holiday,” Guamaní hoped.
Visits in Tungurahua
According to the prefect of Tungurahua, Manuel Caizabanda, in Baños there was 100% occupancy of the lodging places (which are almost 8,000 beds) and in Ambato it was higher than 50% (4,500).
Although he does not yet have exact data, in the nine cantons of this province there was a lot of mobility of people, which means that there was an economic reactivation, said the prefect.
Mobility is supported by figures provided to this medium by Juan Darquea, Ambato terminal administrator, who indicated that only through interprovincial buses it is estimated that there was an influx of more than 20,000 passengers, most of whom arrived from Guayaquil and Quito, and to a lesser extent from Riobamba, Cuenca, Loja, Huaquillas, Salinas and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
Economic relief in El Oro
The holiday left some economic relief to the tourist sector of El Oro, where it is estimated that some 10,000 visitors came to the different destinations that this province offers, starting from the beaches, rivers, spas and gastronomic routes.
“This holiday came tourists from the Sierra, foreigners living in Ecuador and locals, the Jambelí beach did not register crowds and that favored for there to be tranquility and excellent service” according to Julio Manzo, owner of the Las Iguanas inn, located in this jurisdiction of the Santa Rosa canton.
Manzo said that the economic reactivation is accelerating and the outlook is very encouraging as people take their own measures to avoid COVID-19 infections. “The hostels were 90% occupied, the last night it dropped to 30%” said the businessman.
Something similar happened on the beach of Bajo Alto, jurisdiction of the El Guabo canton, where several businesses and services were activated for tourists who arrived on these days off, all activities were concentrated on the shore of the boardwalk. An estimated 4,000 people arrived as of noon on Wednesday.
Small groups of tourists preferred to visit the magical forests and nature reserves, mangrove areas, the Orense páramo, the agrotourism route, the heritage and culture of Zaruma, and bird tourism in Piñas.
“The demand (from tourists) was within our expectations and I think we managed to capture some resources, although we are in debt from the entire pandemic,” said Homero Castro, owner of the tour operator Gold Travel.
The Yacuviña swing was one of the most visited destinations in the upper part of the El Oro province. “In this sector we have the food services offered by the community members, who obtain their own income, people in exchange experience a great adventure and he manages to observe a sunset in the middle of nature ”, explained Bismark Ruilova, mayor of the Atahualpa canton.
No more unemployment, ask the tourism sector
The tourism sector has not stopped looking closely at policy issues and hopes that after this good start to the month, as a result of the holiday, the national strike with which certain social groups opposed to the Government will not be resumed. As the president of the Azuay Chamber of Tourism says, “if they are going to protest, let them do so without closing roads.”
In Portoviejo, according to the hotelier Alejandro Hidalgo, “the strike before the holiday influenced some people to regret coming, as people took their precautions. Here the level of accommodation was weak ”.
The prefect of Tungurahua, Manuel Caizabanda, attributed the large influx of visitors to his province because the mobilization of the indigenous sector and other social groups was deposed, which, however, have announced that they will resume the protests against the Government after the holiday that ends to culminate. (I)
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