The country’s tourism sector turns on the promotion alerts

Ecuadornews:

We are working on the creation of a fund which purpose is to “sell” to Ecuador abroad and participate in international fairs, since 2017 they stopped receiving $ 60 million for the “eco delta” tax. The idea is to increase the flow of visitors and the income of foreign currency.

The Ministry of Tourism, the Association of Receptive Tourism Operators of Ecuador (Optur) and the Chamber of Tourism of Pichincha, agree to warn that there is no investment to promote the country abroad, in order to attract visitors and generate more foreign currency.

The current reality contrasts with the All you need is Ecuador campaign, which was carried out by the Ministry of Tourism between April 2014 and November 2016, when $ 44.17 million was invested. Part of this campaign was the commercial of 30 seconds that was spent in the Super Bowl final, which was played on February 1, 2015, for which $ 2.9 million were disbursed.

The rest of the money was used to promote buses and busy sites in various cities around the world. However, the vice deputy minister of Tourism, José Luis Egas; the directors of the Chamber of Tourism of Pichincha, Diego Vivero and Aldo Salvador; and the president of the Optur, Richard Dávila, questioned that campaign because, despite the huge investment of public funds, the expected results were not obtained and continuity was lacking.

They assured that the current lack of resources to promote the country abroad is due to the tax money generated by the “eco delta” ($ 50 that taxpayers pay when leaving the country by air), which was previously destined to promote the tourism sector, today it enters the fiscal box and there is no return to allocate it to that objective. “We know that the needs of the Government are important and that the fiscal deficit is serious. We understand that perfectly, but we also know about the vocation of tourism that the president (Lenin Moreno) has and that he will bet on this industry, “Egas said.

They are currently working on the creation of a tourism fund that they hope to nurture through taxes such as the “eco delta” and “tourist power” and that will serve to participate in campaigns and international fairs. Vivero, Salvador and Dávila remarked that for taxes as the “eco delta”, the 1 X 1000 (one per thousand) and others, the Ministry of Tourism raised from $ 60 to $ 70 million a year, money that was destined to the promotion of the country, but since 2017 and to date these items go directly to the treasury.

Hence, they ask the Government to return to the sector those items generated by taxes, with the aim of “selling” the image of Ecuador abroad and that the arrival of foreign visitors does not decline: from 2000 to 2017 there has been an average annual increase of 10%

Evolution of tourism in Ecuador

“The tourism industry is very worried because it is very difficult to do things without economic resources,” said Vivero. Ecuador, at a disadvantage compared to the competition of other countries To illustrate the problems faced by the country due to the lack of investment in tourist advertising with respect to neighboring nations that instead allocate significant sums to attract more visitors, the head of the Chamber of Tourism of Pichincha, Diego Vivero, indicated that Peru uses annually $ 180 million and Colombia $ 200 million.

In contrast, the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador delivers $ 4 million. He is sure that the country should implement a state policy regarding tourism. “If you work technically and have an autonomous entity for the promotion, it will give good results,” he said.

The Association of Receptive Tourism Operators also asked the authorities to return to the tourism sector the items that users pay for air travel by way of taxes. They believe that the lack of promotion is the reason why Ecuador is currently at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis its neighbors.

He pointed out that, indeed, the country needs a State policy on tourism. The statistics of the ministries of Tourism of each country reflect that Ecuador is in the last places in attracting visitors, not Colombia and Peru, while in the region Mexico occupies the first place. On the other hand, on a global scale, France, the United States and Spain (in that order) occupy the first three places in the ranking of tourists.

Salvador said it is essential to make a diagnosis about the country’s tourism activity to outline clear policies for the future. “We must start with a good diagnosis because not all destinations are the same,” he added. He assured that the promotion of the country “should not stay on the hanger”, because in practice it is not appreciated by the markets. He is also in favor of the return of the tax “eco delta” to the tourism sector or.

“Today those resources enter the national treasury account and do not return for what they were created.” The new strategies must point to elite tourism Deputy Minister of Tourism, José Luis Egas, said that, faced with the reality and importance of the issue, currently working on new strategies to promote Ecuador abroad. One of them is through social networks. “The online sales pages are giving good results,” he said.

According to Egas, the strategies aim to attract the so-called elite tourist: the one who spends the most. Also, to give a strong impetus to participate in international tourism fairs and conventions, more now that cities like Quito have a modern convention center. Dávila also referred to the theme of the fairs and reported that currently the country, “hard” participates in 4 international fairs a year, while Peru and Colombia do so in 52 fairs.

Despite Ecuador’s lack of international presence at fairs and the lack of adequate and constant promotion, he said that receptive tourism leaves the country $ 3 million a day. Regarding domestic tourism, the deputy vice minister was satisfied with its growth, as he said that on each holiday around 1.5 million people are mobilized to different destinations in the country.

Egas highlighted that tourism currently represents 5.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whose activity contributes to the country with 5% of full employment. According to figures from the Chamber of Tourism, the tourism sector generates 400 thousand direct jobs and 600 thousand indirect jobs, that is, one million people depend on this productive activity. In addition, apart from those who work in direct contact with tourism, also depend on the sector people who provide services linked to transport and trade.

Pablo Campana, Minister of Foreign Trade, said they are working hand in hand with the tourism portfolio because they are clearly aware that it is an activity that generates significant economic income to the country and direct and indirect sources of employment. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/economia/4/sector-turistico-promocion-ecuador