QUITO AIRPORT AMONG THE THREE MORE AWARD-WINNING AIRPORTS OF SOUTH AMERICA IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS
Quito, September 11, 2017 – For the fourth consecutive time the Mariscal Sucre International Airport (MSIA) of Quito was awarded the South America´s Leading Airport prize. During a ceremony held on September 9 at the Mexican Maya Riviera Hard Rock Hotel, the cargo and passenger terminal of the Ecuadorian capital ratified its leadership in the region, having been ranked above the airports of Bogota, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Lima, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile, also nominated in that category.
Therefore, the Quito airport positions itself among the three more award-winning airports in the history of the World Travel Awards in South America, after the Rio de Janeiro airport (8 times winner) and the Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima (five times winner). According to Andrew O’Brian, President and Director General of Corporación Quiport, concessionaire of the airport, this recognition confirms the importance of planning and managing an airport in terms of the city’s dynamic aspects and developing cooperative work focused on service to cover the demands and expectations of everybody using the MSIA and of its neighboring communities. “Our success lies in the dedication, devotion and ability of all our workers”, he added.
He also explained that the excellent results achieved by the Quito airport are due to Corporación Quiport’s approach on constantly investing in projects that make it possible to steadfastly upgrade the service. “This year we invested more than 23 million dollars in projects to improve the infrastructure and the quality of our services, and we maintain an investment plan for the medium and long term so that Quito will always have an airport that can be a true point of reference for the region”, he said.
The World Travel Awards are considered the Oscars of tourism. They are the highest quality accolades for service providers in the industry. The awards were established in 1993 to recognize and to celebrate the excellence of all the participants in this activity. The winners of the various categories are selected through open votes worldwide, where the vote of those related to tourism has twice the value.
In addition, in order to be nominated the airports are examined in terms of their contribution to local and international tourism development. In the four years of its operation, the MSIA has added nine new routes, five new airlines, seventeen additional flights and frequencies to existing routes, more than 22 million passengers have been transported, and at this time fourteen airlines connect Quito with more than 27 domestic and international destinations.
The total expenses made by tourists who arrived through the MSIA in 2016 reached US$ 817 nationwide. That figure confirms the airport’s importance to foster the tourist potential of Ecuador, Quito and the communities close to the airport that have been benefitted with new services and more jobs.
The MSIA and its concessionaire – Quiport – wish to congratulate the other Ecuadorian winners of the World Travel Awards. We are convinced that tourism is strengthened with quality transport services, and that is why we belong to a tourist ecosystem that invigorates one of the fastest growing destinations in the region.