Quito, the capital of the South American country of Ecuador, is a preferred destination for many business and leisure travellers, and if you are looking to book a break here, your first port of call should be the Quito Tourism Board. The tourism board is a young company, officially formed in May 2010, with the express purpose of promoting the metropolitan area of Quito as a tourist destination, both domestically and internationally, and to increase and improve the amount of tourist infrastructure.
The tourism board are actively looking to increase the number of business events that take place in the city and are attending various international conventions to raise the profile of the city. They administer the Eugenio Espejo Convention Center, which is located in an upmarket area between the hotels and the historic area of the city.
In the past year they have promoted Quito to American, Canadian, Spanish, German and Colombian markets through a series of workshops, trade fairs and press releases. They have been present at various trade fairs including World Tourism Cities Federation 2016 in China. They were also present at the World Travel Market in London from 7th to 9th November, where the Mayor of Quito promoted the city as a tourist destination. All of this goes to show how committed they are to ensuring visits here are memorable for all the right reasons.
Through their hard work promoting Quito, the city reached the final stages of the Wonder Cities of the World award and was named South America’s leading destination for 2014 in the World Travel Awards. A recent initiative by the board was to train 179 taxi drivers in tourism to improve travellers’ experiences in the city. This follows on from a pilot project in 2015 and brings the number of tourism board trained taxi drivers to 233 – all ready and able to show the city off to its best advantage.
Another initiative is the Distintivo Q program which aims to highlight companies in Quito that provide an exceptional level of tourist support in a sustainable way. It includes training on what is required to meet the expected standards and then inspection to ensure that they maintain the standards. There are currently 216 establishments that have been granted the Distintivo Q and display the “Q” symbol.
With all this commitment to providing a visitor experience that’s second to none, the Quito Tourism Board are poised to offer travel buyers the best advice on where to visit, stay and enjoy this wonderful city.
The team from the Quito Tourism Board joined us in Rio de Janeiro for Connections Luxury Brazil, back in October and they will be hosting our meetings series next 2-5 July, we can’t wait to work with them and discover their beautiful country! If you would like to find out more about what we do and how to join us, please drop me a note to micaela@weareconnections.com.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Micaela
