From early on, families came to spas in Santa Elena and Manabí. There are controls for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drafting-Manta-Salinas
They came to have a few days of relaxation and fun on the beaches. Bathing in the sea, walking on the sand and enjoying the typical gastronomy of the area, such as seafood and crustacean dishes, motivated dozens of families and groups of friends who advanced their trips to the spas.
Some began to arrive from Wednesday 29 to the beaches of Ecuador, to have more days of rest and enjoyment. This happened in towns in Manabí, such as Manta, and in Santa Elena, such as Salinas, Montañita, Ballenita, among others.
In Manta, for example, a clear sky, as well as the sea breeze, and the sun in all its splendor on Thursday 30 welcomed hundreds of tourists who immediately began to walk the beach.
Carlos Cobos arrived, on Wednesday, from Quito to Manta, where he will stay until Saturday, January 1. He is accompanied by seven more members of his family. With them he enjoyed, since Wednesday, burying himself in the sand of El Murciélago beach, the main spa in this Manabi city.
“The weather is very beautiful, I see organization, user controls, and the sun, great, I can not complain,” said Cobos.
Manta expects the visit of more than 30,000 tourists on the New Year’s holiday
Juan Carlos Olivos, another Quito native who came to Manabí for its beaches, also toured the streets of Montecristi. He will be there until Monday, January 3, and will visit other spas such as Crucita, in Portoviejo, and Los Frailes, in Puerto López.
“They are demanding the vaccination card, something that I think is very good, and we hope to enjoy this sun on all the beaches,” said Olivos, who celebrated his wife’s birthday in Manabi.
Carlos Muñiz, who came from Gualaceo to Manta, for work, took the opportunity, after his workday on Thursday afternoon, to visit the beach of El Murcielago. Manabi gastronomy stood out.
Seafood-based dishes are the most requested by tourists, mainly in the restaurants of the Malecón Escénico on the beach of El Murcielago and in Playita, Mía in Tarqui.
The Manta tourism authorities estimate the arrival of some 30,000 people until the end of the year-end holiday.
Salinas reaches 45% of reserves, and Montañita, 75%
The Salinas canton, in the province of Santa Elena, registered an increase in visitors during the 30 and the first hours of December 31 and even the level of reservations had a slight increase with 30% and up to 45%, said Otto Lamán , Director of Tourism of the Municipality of Salinas.
The entity constantly monitors tourism activity, which was slightly affected after the provisions announced on December 21 by the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE) in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the confirmation of its omicron variant, which was already in Ecuador.
Along the Salinas boardwalk, municipal personnel, traffic agents, policemen and others, who numbered close to a hundred, collaborated in the security controls, which were announced to be intensified on the night of the 31st, since it was prohibited for second consecutive year the burning of puppets along the beach.
Chipipe and the Las Palmeras sector in San Lorenzo are the areas that report the highest number of visitors, as is the public dock. The latter attracted the attention of tourists who decided to take a yacht ride in the bay.
In the Puntilla de Santa Elena Marine Coastal Reserve (Remacopse), which includes areas such as La Chocolatera, La Lobería and El Morro hill, visitors must present their vaccination card. This after the announcement of this measure, the afternoon of December 30. A spokesperson said that the allowed capacity will continue to be respected. In recent days, even the entry of people had to be paused, since the percentage had been completed for a few hours.
The Ecuadorian Transit Commission (CTE) also deployed its personnel throughout the province of Santa Elena. Among the activities they will do are the counting of vehicles that enter the Peninsula.
CVialco, the concessionaire of the Guayaquil-Santa Elena highway, estimated that some 30,000 vehicles will leave Guayaquil, between Friday 31 and Saturday 1 January, to the coastal resorts, both in Playas and Santa Elena.
In the 20 beaches of the peninsular capital there would be 69 lifeguards or lifeguards as they are called now, a number that increased due to the arrival of tourists since last Thursday.
That day, Thursday 30, in Olón, Ayangue and Montañita an important presence of tourists was already reflected.
In Montañita, in addition to the nightlife and the beach, which are the attractions, the traditional widows were seen in the streets, who with their occurrences make the last hours of 2021 full of laughter. There the hotel reservation and occupancy was classified as good by some tourist actors, who indicated that they already exceeded 70% during the first hours of this December 31. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
