WTM 2014: Ecuador Seeing the Results of Tourism Funding Boost

A ten-fold increase on government spending on tourism is helping Ecuador rebalance its economy away from oil. In recent years the country has channeled more funds into the tourism sector, helping to boost numbers by 15 percent this year.

“We are seeing the result and it’s also the result of a lot of effort from the government. Because, for example, in 2006 before this government came in the amount of investment in tourism was around $6 million now it’s around $60 million,” said Sandra Naranjo, Ecuador’s minister of tourism.

Naranjo added that this focus on tourism was key to helping the country make the “transition from a non-oil economy”. Currently the fossil fuel represents 50% of Ecuador’s exports but Naranjo is hoping to change this.

“For us its very important to do that transition using the money of oil wisely,” she said. The goal is to make tourism the second source of income after oil. At the moment it is number five. “When you increase your budget by ten times it is showing something. One thing is to say it, another thing is to do it,” Naranjo said.

Earlier this year, the Ecuadorian government signed a permit to allow oil drilling in the Yasuni national park. The decision followed the failure of a scheme to keep the oil in the ground in exchange for international donations.

Naranjo stressed, however, that 99.99% of the area would “remain untouched. The environment is one of our biggest assets,” she said. “Ecuador is the only country in the world where the rights of nature are in the constitution. For us it’s really important.”

As well as hoping to entice tourists with its natural and environmental offering, Ecuador is also expanding in other areas.

In recent years it has reinstated a train line between the capital Quito and Guayaquil on the coast. This month a new section of line will be opened between Otavalo, a popular destination for tourists because of its market, and Ibarra.

Naranjo estimates that by the end of 2014 the country will have welcomed 1.4 million tourists with a target for 10-15% growth on this figure for 2015.

Source: TTG Digital