The youngest most energetic, most nature-friendly Minister of Tourism in the world (33) – he has the energy, the love for his country, and the mindset to turn Ecuador into a development engine through sustainable tourism management.
When he accepted his appointment, he posted to his social media:
“I accept the most important challenge of my life: to serve my country from the Ministry of Tourism. With passion and responsibility, I present the first 3 objectives:
– Promotion for reactivation.
– Financial respite for the sector.
– Recovery of the train and air connectivity.”
In December, the Ministry of Tourism launched its first U.S. roadshow in more than six years, spearheaded by the minister himself, Niels Olsen. The roadshow was part of an effort to establish stronger connections with U.S. travel agents, a plan that will also include familiarization trips and a new specialist program in 2022.
The minister told eTurboNews today, new flights connecting the U.S. West Coast non-stop with Ecuador will be announced. “It will make a huge difference.”
The minister was educated in the United States and speaks fluent English.
The official currency in Ecuador is the US dollar, so Ecuador loves American visitors!
Mudi Astuti, a viewer from Indonesia, explained how popular Ecuador is in Indonesia. She was making plans to visit Ecuador again.
In today’s World Tourism Network interview, the minister talked about the current situation in Ecuador with COVID-19.
Niels Olsen is really passionate. A 20-minute interview turned into a quick and open one-hour discussion among new friends.
No suit and tie are necessary.
The minister shared the love and excitement he feels for his country, including surfing, food, culture, Galapagos, Quito, and Guayaquil – and no suit was necessary.
Minister Niels Olsen suggested:
Go on a diet after your trip, but enjoy our amazing and healthy food.
WTN President Dr. Peter Tarlow gave his feedback on the cultural experience he had when visiting Guayaquil. He added: “The churches are amazing.”
Smart but humbled, the minister did not mention or advertise his own tourism project, which is the home he grew up on at Hacienda La Danesa – a farm located between the wild Pacific coast and the majestic Andes mountain range. It is a 90-minute drive from Guayaquil along good scenic roads, or a short helicopter flight where guests can arrive in style. The farm is surrounded by the stunning natural scenery of thick forests, wild rivers, and plantation fields.
He said in an earlier interview with local media that he would joke with his parents that he wanted to make his home a hotel.
With its own cacao and chocolate, with his own teak trees, with his homemade furniture, and his home-produced milk, his home was transformed into a hotel with 6 cottages.
It is impossible to talk about Ecuador without mentioning its cacao (the word cacao was misspelled as cocoa once-upon-a-time in English). Cacao is synonymous with culture, development, identity, and heritage; it is about a historical legacy as ancient and full of splendor as the rivers, forests, and volcanoes that characterize this South American country.
For many years, Ecuador has been recognized as the largest fine or flavored cacao producer in the world. The country produces a special kind of cacao with floral aroma profiles. When European traders came across it in the Gulf of Guayaquil, they asked the merchants where these amazing cacao beans came from. The locals answered “Arriba” – “up-river,” meaning further up the watersheds of the rivers that reach the gulf. The name stuck, and to this day, this cacao is known in Ecuador as “Cacao Arriba.”
Traditionally, Ecuador has been a major producer of cacao. Today, it is internationally recognized to be the supplier country for more than 60% of the world’s “fine flavor” cacao production, the raw material that is both required and coveted in the European and American industries for fine chocolate production.
Cacao contributes more than US$700 million to Ecuador´s economy.
Olsen wants visitors to have a great time in Ecuador. He said in his interview, 11 days is the minimum for every visitor to stay in Ecuador, 30 days is better.
Besides culture, amazing cities, some of the best food in the world, nature has everything for a visitor in Ecuador.
When it comes to surfing, the 33-year-old minister thanked the surfer from Hawaii for his question:
Ecuador has incredible surf variety.
Surf tourism is very important to the local economy, and the beaches offer significant enjoyment because of top quality waves combined with affordable prices for lodging and food compared to other surf destinations. There’s also a national marine reserve off the coast, which has a gigantic whale population.
Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands offer contrasting surfing environments. The Galapagos are quiet and remote (906 km – 563 mi – west of continental Ecuador) quite fickle and rocky. While mainland Ecuador can be party-mad and offers a multitude of accessible sandy beach barrels through to long points and reefs.
They do, however, share the same exposure to both north and south swells; both will suffer decay before reaching their shores but what does arrive, as a consequence is of high quality, losing much of the short period associated with locally generated swells.
More on Ecuador Tourism visit: https://ecuador.travel/
