Guayaquil received its first ‘Oscar’ in world tourism
Ecuadornews:

World Travel AwardS world chapter was held in Lisbon
The video showed the main destinations and corners of Guayaquil, such as the Las Peñas neighborhood, with its colorful houses and the cobbled Numa Pompilio Llona street; the rides in the Guayas river in the Morgan ship and a splendid sunset in the Simón Bolívar jetty, showing the La Perla Ferris wheel.
That production was observed by the representatives of the world tourism that gathered at the twenty-fifth award of the World Travel Awards, known as the Oscars of Tourism.
In this 25th edition, the Tourism Company of Guayaquil -which promotes tourism in the city for four years- won the Tourism Authority of the World’s Leading City Award. Another prize went to the hotel Finch Bay, of Galapagos, recognized for the fifth consecutive year as the Leading Green Hotel of the World.
The world gala took place last Saturday night at the Pátio de Galé in Lisbon. There,Gloria Gallardo, president of the Municipal Tourism Company of Guayaquil, and Ana María Moreira, sub-manager of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, received the award.
The entity obtained that prize standing out on other seven tourism entities such as London (England), Athens (Greece); Miami (USA); Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Saint Petersburg (Russia).
Last September, Guayaquil hosted the World Travel Award South America chapter. There Ecuador won 25 awards; eight were for the city and tourism entities, precisely five hotels.
Guayaquil won as the Leading Business City of South America, the Leading Tourism Authority of South America and the Leading City of South America Festivals and Events. Those awards took him to the world gala.
From Lisbon, Gallardo said yesterday that this award commits to continue working to continue positioning the city as the leading destination of the region and the world. He indicated that the key to this success has been the work of his team with citizens, public and private companies and the academy.
He stressed that this award is valuable, since it allows the world to discover more to the destination that in just four years has managed to position it as aleader in the region with constant promotion.
At the national level, it has already managed to locate itself above the rest of he local cities with 2.1 million visitors per year, including local and foreign visits, according to figures managed by the same entity.
The local company, in recent years, has encouraged tourism as a destination for congresses, conventions, leisure. This year the city projected a growth of 7.9%of visits and the programming of 36 congresses and conventions. (I)
Source: https://www.eluniverso.com/guayaquil/2018/12/03/nota/7080303/guayaquil-oscar-turismo