In this context, Travel2latam had the opportunity to speak with Niels Olsen, Minister of Tourism of Ecuador.
What is the objective of your trip to Argentina, with participation in this event?
Emotions is one of the most important tourism events not only in Argentina but in the entire region of Latin America and Ecuador. We hosted dinner for 300 agents yesterday and also had a destination presentation with the top 50 agents who came to the event. We had 16 Ecuadorian businessmen strengthening their commercial ties from each part of our country, from the Amazon, the mountains, the coast and of course the Galapagos Islands. Parallel to the Emotions event we had several activations, one of them was the chocolate tasting workshop of one of the most important brands in our country, To'ak, which has a regenerative project for fine aroma cocoa and it gave us a lot of pleasure. invite you to learn the history of this product, but above all why Ecuador is the origin of cocoa.
I would like you to expand on the Cocoa Route as a product and what it means for the country.
Ecuador is full of experiences, I think it is one of the most beautiful things our country has. One of them is the Cocoa Route, there are several cocoa farms in different parts of Ecuador that invite national and especially international tourists to learn about the history of the origin of cocoa and also the preparation of the entire process from harvest to production. of the chocolate bar.
What are the next steps for the Ministry of Tourism in terms of international promotion?
Just the previous month we managed to approve the Urgent Economic Tourism Law with President Noboa in Congress, which ensures an increase in the budget. We have been working for several years with a fairly modest budget of around five or six million for investment in national and international promotion for competitiveness projects, and now, with the development of the Promotion Fund, the budget must be increased to at least 20 millions. So we can expect to see more of Ecuador's presence in Argentina, the United States, Canada and several countries in Europe and other prioritized markets. So the next steps are more fairs, more air connectivity. We are also working very closely with the Argentine Government to be able to sign open skies agreements very soon.
Minister, you just mentioned that you had a meeting with the Secretary of Tourism, Sports and Environment of Argentina. Can you tell us something about what you met this morning?
We met with the Undersecretary, Yanina Martínez, with whom we have been working for about two years, to achieve the signing of open skies agreements between the two countries. We complement each other quite well, for Ecuador the Argentine market is very important and for Argentina the Ecuadorian market is very important. We hope to be able to free up the frequencies between the two countries. This is a work that is being carried out by the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works of Ecuador, with the Ministry of Transportation of Argentina and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the two countries, also complemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What are the next steps regarding the presence of Ecuador in Argentina in the dissemination not only of cocoa, chocolate, but of different destinations and activities?
Our strategy is to be able to work on two fronts. The first, improve competitiveness, the promotion of our country, and at the same time improve air connectivity. We are advancing in the open skies agreement between the two countries to have more direct flights, because today we only have one airline that is connecting directly, which is Avianca, with a Quito - Buenos Aires flight, with only four frequencies. We believe that it is very little, and that with the open skies curve we will be able to increase frequencies.
At the same time, we will be working on the promotion of Ecuador in Argentina. The Argentine fair is coming up, if I'm not mistaken, in the month of November, and in the coming months Ecuador will also have an important participation. We will continue attending the next editions of Emotions and other advertising campaigns to attract more Argentines to the country.
Minister, what is the security situation?
As a government, President Noboa has great acceptance by the Ecuadorian population because he is making the most important decisions, as he has said, to win the war on narcoterrorism. From the Ministry of Tourism we have activated the Tourism Police, there are more than 500 agents who are caring for or protecting the well-being of national and international visitors in the main tourist communities. Regarding incidents with international or national tourists, no extraordinary incidents have been reported in the country's history. There are definitely complex moments or situations, but they occur in very specific areas in the Ecuadorian territory where tourists do not usually visit.