Quito wins the award for Leading Cultural Tourist Destination in South America
The city was recognized at the 2025 World Travel Awards, better known as the "Oscars of world tourism"
This isn't the first award Quito has taken home in this category—it already achieved this recognition in another year—but it feels equally special because when it comes to culture, living history, and an identity that beats in every cobblestone and heritage street, no one can beat the Carita de Dios, and this award confirms it.
Why Quito?
It is the first city in the world to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1978). First. In the world.
It has the best-preserved historic center in Latin America, with more than 130 heritage buildings and 5,000 registered properties.
Its streets contain more than 500 years of history, art, religion, architecture, Ecuadorian identity, tradition, fusion, and legends that wouldn't fit in a thousand books.
Museums, convents, galleries, festivals, ancient and modern cuisine, a fusion of products, innovation, and a vibe that masterfully blends the colonial with the contemporary.
And the World Travel Awards?
These are the most important awards in global tourism. Each year, they are voted on by industry experts, seasoned travelers, and industry enthusiasts from around the world. Quito, competing against giant and well-positioned cities like Cusco, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Cancún, and Santiago, was crowned the region's cultural leader.
And now what?
This recognition isn't just another medal recognizing the management and work done to make Quito a smart tourist destination and, through public policies and the will to implement them, provide quality of life to citizens and foreigners. It's an invitation to rediscover Quito through different eyes. To walk along La Ronda, to see the Panecillo from a terrace, to get lost in San Francisco, to have a Quito coffee at La Mariscal, or to take a photo near a house with 200 years of history.
From the heart of the world, Quito continues to demonstrate that culture is not just tradition, it is also future and innovation. With the help of tourism, it promotes a complete city, one that prides its citizens, rich in activities, and with the potential to be on the radar of thousands of foreign tourists.
Source: Quito Tourism.