For this holiday there were expectations of a high occupancy.
At the gates of a long holiday for the Day of the Dead and the Cuenca festivities, the tourism sector was concerned this Wednesday about the announcement of new days of protests by the indigenous movement.
Ecuador woke up this Wednesday with certain sections of roads closed due to demonstrations against the Government.
And although most of the country’s roads are enabled, the tourism sector fears that these protest announcements could affect the reserves that are already planned for this holiday.
Holbach Muñeton, president of the National Federation of Provincial Chambers of Tourism of Ecuador, said that the protests of 2019 already left heavy losses for the sector and if these new demonstrations continue, there will be another negative impact.
State of roads in Ecuador on the second day of mobilizations
“What this uncertainty does is that people do not want to go out to a holiday if they see that there are road closures, this affects us. The first day of mobilization we lowered our reserves by 10% ”, he said.
In several cities of the country, expectations of an occupancy level between 60% and 80% have been woven for this holiday.
“You must see how the issue is solved. The indigenous sector, which is within its right to claim, but please do not do more damage to the tourism industry as was done in October 2019, ″ indicated Muñeton.
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The leader pointed out that with this type of protests the arrival of foreign tourists is also reduced, as they can choose other destinations.
Within the tourism sector, it refers to the fact that in Ecuador there was a forecast of a significant flow of tourists moving from this weekend to different cities.
The tourist representatives of Azuay and Cañar are strongly concerned about the declaration of an indefinite national strike. Hotel reservations at the gates of the holiday are over 80%, but they fear that if there are no agreements between the Protestants and the Government, everything will fall, generating millions of economic losses.
Patricio Miller, former president of the Azuay Chamber of Tourism and director of the Federation of Ecuadorian Chambers of Tourism, explains that an average family invests at least $ 300 during a holiday, a very important figure that is distributed in areas such as accommodation, food, transportation and distraction.
A not inconsiderable amount that helps the economy circulate, but that could fall due to the stupidity of the parties. He has data that the hotel reservation in Cuenca for these days is 80% and he is convinced that if the protesters do not resign their positions between today and tomorrow, everything will be complicated and people will begin to cancel their trips, as is happening in Central provinces of the country such as Chimborazo or Ambato, according to information provided by his colleagues.
With a similar criterion is the mayor of Azogues, Romel Sarmiento, who for a month presented a wide agenda of festive activities such as international concerts, asked the parties involved that during these five days “make a truce, a cross-fire cease.” and that as of November 8, the dialogue processes should be resumed. (I)
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