From one week to another the panorama changed. In the previous one they canceled the reservations, while now they are on the rise. Bars, discos and others will attend with 50% capacity.
Unlike a week ago, when the tourism sector in the province of Santa Elena was skeptical about the arrival of tourists for the end of the year and New Year holidays, which starts this Friday the 31st, expectations have changed.
Susana Sotomayor, hotelier and councilor of Salinas, recalled that at the beginning of this month everything was running smoothly until the national COE issued restrictions due to the increase in COVID-19 cases and the presence of the omicron variant in the country.
And after that, and given the uncertainty of a possible confinement, visitors began to ask for their money back and the occupancy in the accommodation sites was at 20%.
Towns in the province of Santa Elena adopt measures for the Christmas and end of the year festivities
But the situation changed in the last hours and, little by little, tourists returned to make reservations. Until the morning of this Wednesday 29 there was talk of 40% of reservations.
The mayor hopes that the weekend will reach 100%, because they have seen that with the passing of the hours more people arrive.
“We have faith that it is going to be a good holiday,” said Sotomayor, owner of the Salinas, Costa Azul and Suit Salinas hotels.
The Salinas boardwalk will not be closed, Sotomayor announced, but the burning of puppets will not be allowed, only on second and third avenues.
Sotomayor stressed that the hotel sector is in debt and that the profits from this holiday will be to pay back amounts they have.
Municipalities maintain different measures on meetings and burning of puppets for the end of the year
Luis Tenempaguay, vice president of the Santa Elena Chamber of Tourism, acknowledges that the situation has improved.
“In Olón and Montañita there are 65% reservations, while in Salinas and La Libertad we reached 45%,” said Tenempaguay, owner of a restaurant cabin in the San Pablo commune, where it has been announced that customers should bring their vaccination card with both doses, as well as the citizenship card. This after the commitments they acquired with the Santa Elena cantonal COE, which arranged to open bars, discotheques, cocktail bars and nightlife centers with 50% capacity.
Luis Villao, from the Nuevos Horizontes de Salinas Beach Association, agreed that the reopening of the beaches was a wise decision for vendors to earn income. However, there are complaints from a group of soda and water vendors about the COE’s ban on dispensing beer and other alcoholic beverages.
“We expect more control on the security issue, in Chipipe and San Lorenzo, because there are many informal,” said Villao, who said that the beach merchants have made investments in improving implements, such as tents. (I)
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