Ecuador leaves the level that recommended that Americans not come to the country in the middle of the pandemic

Travel Advisory of the United States removed the country from level 4 to level 3.

Ecuador left level 4 of travel warnings that the United States Travel Advisory has to guide its citizens who travel abroad in the midst of this pandemic on health and safety issues.

At that level, the United States recommended that its travelers not travel to Ecuadorian territory due to the current pandemic and security conditions.

Now that nation places Ecuador at level 3, which implies reconsidering the trip to the country. At the South American level, only Ecuador, Peru and Guyana are at level 3, the rest of the countries continue at level 4.

Within level 2, the United States advises traveling with precautions and level 1 recommends taking normal precautions.

The Minister of Tourism, Niels Olsen, commented this Wednesday morning that moving from level 4 to level 3 “is an important step to reactivate tourism and generate more confidence.”

As part of the recommendations, the United States Travel Advisory asks travelers to exercise greater caution in Ecuador due to crime. Also remember that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Ecuador due to COVID-19, which still implies a high level of the coronavirus.

One of the security warnings includes not visiting certain areas of the country, such as Carchi, Sucumbíos and the northern part of the Esmeraldas provinces, including the city of Esmeraldas, due to crime.

“Transnational criminal groups operating in the province of Esmeraldas have engaged in violent crimes and have killed local citizens, in addition to carrying out bomb attacks against the Ecuadorian Army and Police,” notes the page that the traveler reads.

The United States Travel Advisory maintains that the Government of that nation has a limited capacity to provide emergency services to US citizens in the Colombian border area, since US Government personnel cannot travel to the provinces of Esmeraldas, Carchi and Sucumbíos without permission from the Embassy security office.

However, he notes, United States Government personnel can travel to the north bank of the Napo River, in Sucumbíos, an area approximately four miles wide, and the part of the province of Esmeraldas that is located south of the city of Esmeraldas.

Optimism in Galapagos by decision

The decision by the United States to improve the level of travel safety recommendation for Ecuador raises expectations in the Galapagos Islands, a market that is nourished by foreign visitors and that contracted during the pandemic.

Andrés Ordóñez, director of the Galapagos Chamber of Tourism, considers that being at level 3 security is good news for the country, as it generates confidence in the traveler not only in terms of health, but also comprehensive security.

“The United States is our main source market, the fact that the Government itself communicates to its citizens that Ecuador is at level 3 will generate confidence and that will be positive because we are on the verge of summer in the United States and it can translate into reserves,” says Ordóñez.

The arrival of tourists to the islands marches slowly and is still distant from the levels of before the pandemic. Galapagos arrived 15,585 tourists in the first quarter of 2021, 73.12% less than in the same period of 2020.

The leader considers that the challenge is to continue working on the vaccination process in the country to help keep the rates at optimal levels so that tourists feel confident in coming to Ecuador.