Since the devastating earthquake affecting the northern coast of Ecuador last April, there has been a lingering question....
Will coastal Ecuador's tourist-related businesses be able to rebound this winter? High season is typically from Christmas to May.
Early indications are not good. Two earthquakes rocked Esmeraldas province in the week leading up to Christmas (December 2016) .. and the hotel association says almost all Christmas reservations in the area have been canceled.
The larger of these quakes was of 5.7 magnitude. The death toll is at three. Over one hundred buildings have been collapsed or severely damaged.
Meantime, the EC government's official quake-watchers have put out the following message in light of real-estate interests' claims that the south coast is supposedly safe:
No portion of the Ecuadorian coast is safe from earthquakes and quake damage.
It's a clear warning to Expats.... If you want to live on the EC coast... rent, don't buy.
Source for statistics in this post: www.cuencahighlife.com
cccmedia
Can Coastal Ecuador Recover in 2017?
I think it's a bit more complicated because a few days ago I read an article which stated that there was high demand for some areas of the coast. By December 21, Pedernales, Cojimíes and Crucita had about 75% of rooms confirmed while Manta had 66% confirmed bookings. This in my opinion is pretty good given the situation, but I'm not a hotelier so I don't know what percentage of occupancy is minimum for profitability.
Other areas like Atacames had 30% cancellations for Christmas and 40% cancellations for the New Year. I don't know what percentage of confirmed bookings those numbers affected, so can't make a determination in this regard.
What I also learned from the article however was that areas away from the coast, like Baños and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, also experienced lower bookings. So I think it's combination of seismic, volcanic and economic difficulties that have impacted bookings throughout Ecuador.
http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/de … rismo.html
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