A European tourist enjoys a zipline ride near Cuenca.
Minister of Tourism, Niels Olsen, said that, during 2021, Ecuador had high tourism growth, with a 25.8% increase over 2020. This compares to 4% worldwide growth and 17% growth in the Latin America.
According to Olsen, the tourism strategy focuses on attracting tourism with a high environmental, economic, and social return, focused on nature, gastronomy, culture, and rural areas, without forgetting the meetings, events, and conventions segment.
The promotion of the country will be 70% focused on international tourism including the markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and Europe; the objective is to attract more foreign exchange and inject it into the Ecuadorian economy.
The remaining 30% will be directed to the domestic market, “in order to promote circulation and redistribution of resources focusing on rural zones, promoting domestic travel to new destinations, in addition to the traditional ones”.
The investment in international tourism marketing campaign will be segmented to tourism with high environmental, economic, and social returns. Domestic tourism will have priority during the seasons and holidays, and the investment will be segmented by age, socioeconomic profile, and other aspects.
About 50% of the international promotion budget will be directed to the U.S. market, taking into account factors such as greater connectivity, fewer restrictions for entering the country post-covid-19, and a representative average expenditure, among others.
Another 38% of the international budget will be invested into the European market, while 7% will be intended for the Latin American market and 5% will be used to develop a user-friendly website with all the necessary information for international and domestic travelers.
Olsen said that the promotional campaign will focus on the Galapagos Islands and well as the popular colonial cities of Qutio and Cuenca, in the Andes Mountains.
Two roadshows will be held in the United States, one in the United Kingdom and another in Europe, in addition to a series of Fam and Press Trips. The latter activity will be carried out both in the domestic market and abroad. Internationally, Ecuador will work with embassies and commercial offices on trade relations, public relations, affiliations and digital campaigns in all priority markets.
With regards to domestic tourism, the minister announced that they will pay special attention to holidays, seasons and weekend trips, with social networks campaigns, promoting cities that traditionally do not have a high turnover, and strengthening the web with information of interest to travelers, provided by operators and service providers in the sector.
__________________
Credit: Tourism Review
