Travel2latam spoke with Diego Andrade Murtinho, Undersecretary of Promotion of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism.
What expectations did you come to WTM with?
Ecuador has two clear messages. The first is about security. Some media outlets have generalized about the news that has caused a lot of commotion and, although it is true that we are going through moments where we are fighting internally with criminal gangs and foreign drug trafficking, our destinations and tourist circuit at a national level are totally far from these places. Imagine a place like the Galapagos, our main tourist destination is separated from the continent, a two-hour flight to get there, so there is no type of impact.
A group of islands that rely on almost 80% of the tourism industry do not have time to do anything other than serve their tourists. Places like Quito, Cuenca or Tabal, within the Ecuadorian Andes, are totally far from those niches of problems where this battle is being won by the police, the military and the Ecuadorian people. Ecuador has never seen such strong, direct and concrete support for the presence of the military in the streets as now, because they are guaranteeing the safety of everyone; of the locals and the visitors. And finally, the Amazon. In the Amazon, people go to visit communities that are far from civilization, living with their cultures of yesteryear, totally far from modernity, much more so from these types of problems. So first of all, tourism to Ecuador remains safe, remains hospitable and attractive.
And second, we continue with our traditional message, that Ecuador has four incredible worlds, each with its absolute differences, with that mega diversity in each very different region, in such a small space. In Ecuador in 1 hour 50 minutes you have already traveled the entire country, and that is why we are the most mega diverse per square kilometer in the world. We are very happy to be able to give that message to everyone.
This participation in this event is obviously part of a promotion strategy of the Ministry of Tourism. Who is with you here today?
We have 12 exhibitors between private companies and decentralized autonomous governments. We have DMC companies that sell the entire country. Boat, experience, hotel and tour companies. We have Isabela Island in the Galapagos, the largest island in the archipelago, where you can see penguins, whales and orcas. Also to Muisne, which is a small municipality in the emerald zone, with incredible biodiversity, kilometers of beaches and then mangroves. And we end with the municipality of Loja, a city in the south of Ecuador. With all this offer here at WTM we are very happy to present them to Brazilians, Argentines, Chileans, and all of Latin America who are present at this fair.
What's new regarding connectivity?
There is Gol wanting to resume a flight, and Azul, wanting to start a Sao Paulo-Quito flight immediately. We had that connectivity in 2019 before the pandemic and later we lost it and have not recovered it. I think that for both airlines it is a huge priority, and surely before the end of 2024 we will have excellent news about the recovery of that connectivity with the South American giant. I was also yesterday with the people from Copa, who told us that they are going to increase.
Copa has three daily flights every day from Panama to Quito. Three daily flights every day from Panama to Guayaquil, and three a week from a wonderful city called Manta to Panama. They confirmed to us that in the next month they will increase to four flights per week because the destination is working incredibly well for them.
What are the steps to follow after this event?
All the expert companies accompany us in doing their tasks to be able to ensure that more tourists come to Ecuador. For our part, we will continue to promote and bring the clear news that we are a peaceful and safe destination.