Tourism in the Galapagos Islands fell 73% during 2020. A situation that has hit the population that depends, for the most part, on hotels, gastronomy and excursions.
In a statement, the Ministry of the Environment announced that in 2020 72.519 tourists arrived in the archipelago. This means a 73% decline in national and international visitors.
In 2019, there were 271.238 tourists who visited the islands, but the pandemic in March 2020 caused that decline.
According to the Annual Report of Visitors to the Protected Areas of Galapagos for the year 2020, 57% of the tourists who arrived in the archipelago were foreigners; while the remaining 43% was of national origin.
With the pandemic, the flow was reduced due to restrictions and in the second half of the year it remained slightly above 10% of its usual quota.
The Ministry of the Environment indicated that the greatest impact on the reduction of visits occurred in the second and third quarters of 2020. In March, income fell to less than 57%, compared to the same month of 2019. Between April and July there were no tourists, due to the state of exception and the reactivation began in August with less than 1 000 tourists and a gradual growth in the following months of 1 000 (September), 3 000 (October), 4 000 (November) and 6 000 (December ).
To enter the islands, in addition, the results of the PCR test are required to diagnose the coronavirus, in order to prevent its spread.
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