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Tourism Guild: “The sector needs to work market intelligence”
Posted On 20 Dec 2019
The representatives of the private tourism industry told Diario EXPRESO that only time will tell if the plan that the Government will present in a few hours has really been prepared to correct the deficiencies in the sector.
Tourism Guild: “The sector needs to work market intelligence”
Holbach Muñetón, president of the National Federation of Provincial Chambers of Tourism, said that the problem with connectivity and the prices charged at the Guayaquil airport has long been pointed out. “But the authorities do nothing yet.
For example, my flight to Quito had to leave at 8:00, but it will at 10:00 due to technical problems. To this it should be noted that the round trip ticket is at 280 dollars. This is a very high price for an internal flight, in Europe they cost 40 euros (about 44.46 dollars).
Why the authorities have not done anything so far, ”he said. He added that this point is very important when seeking to boost convention tourism, speakers usually arrive only at the event and leave. What happens if they go to Quito? “The price of the ticket will cost as much as an international flight.”
Another pending point is the regulation of the departments that are used to rent to tourists through the Airbnb platform, “the regulation that was developed together with the Ministry of Tourism to date is not published in the Official Registry,” said Muñetón.
An approach that has the guild is that foreign tourists are returned the Value Added Tax (VAT), this for the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) means about 7 million dollars, but it will be complemented with the increase of the arrival of tourists, who spend foreign currency in the country.
The Federation also questions that until October the promotion of 2019 was not yet assigned and it is made to this date it is obvious that it does not benefit the year that will end in a few days. Muñetón stressed that the guild was called to present the plan, but not to work it together.
He considered that the sector lacks a job of market intelligence. That is, knowing what the tastes of travelers are in their leisure time and providing that. For example, it is known that the European likes to accompany food with wine; but in the country there are certain hours and days for the sale of alcoholic beverages.
It is known that tourists from Asia like to buy and attend casinos and in Ecuador there is no casino. “Reengineering and planning that is sustainable and sustainable is required. Only time will tell if the new plan complies with encouraging the tourism company and corrects the points indicated, ”said Muñetón.
He announced that he will not be present at the presentation of the Government’s tourism plan, as he has a meeting with other businessmen from the tourism sector in Quito.
