Is Ecuador safe to visit?
Is Ecuador safe to travel to?
July 2024
Short answer: Yes, and all our Ecuador tours are running normally. In larger cities (Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil) and crowded places, be street-smart as in any other large city around the globe (don’t show off jewelry, keep your valuables close, don’t go wandering around at night). Check out some more safety tips here. The Galapagos Islands are very safe, and you don’t need to take any special precautions there.
Now for the long answer…
War on drugs: Ecuador is located between the two largest cocaine producing countries: Colombia and Peru. So, sadly, drug trafficking is an issue in Ecuador (like in most other Latin American countries) and there are basically two ways to deal with it: close your eyes to it or confront it. Our current president Daniel Noboa chose option two and declared an internal war against organized crime. This led to many arrests but also violent responses against members of law enforcement and public institutions by criminal organizations.
Headlines: In the past, Ecuador has always been praised as a safe destination, escaping the struggles that many other Latin American countries have with narco-terrorism. Therefore, the surge in gang-related violence and narco-terrorism that Ecuador faced in 2023 and the beginning of 2024 became big news all over the globe. Obviously, reports about drug-related crime in quiet Ecuador is bigger news than reports about similar events in Mexico or Colombia. Needless to say, that these headlining bad news affected tourism terribly.
The actual situation in Ecuador: Our every-day life goes on as always. From our administrative work at our Quito office to on-the-road operations in all four regions of Ecuador, everything runs as smoothly as always. As Ecuador’s Ministry of Tourism continuously proclaims: Ecuador is a safe tourist destination! Yes, Ecuador has some issues but those are mainly isolated events, far from where the usual traveler would ever pass upon. Let me ask you: Would you go wandering around in gang-controlled US neighborhoods? Obviously not. And obviously, our tours won’t take you to such areas.
Advantage of booking through Midland Travel: As we are in Quito, we are always up to date on any current events and can react quickly if necessary. When there were roadblocks due to protests in the Andean region in 2019, we were able to redirect our travelers’ itineraries, so that they had no issues at all. We are always able to respond your questions about the current situation in Ecuador almost immediately and from first-hand experience.
No place is 100% safe (even Switzerland has seen a rise in violent crimes in the last years). But Ecuador can definitely be counted as a safe destination for tourism.
For more detailed information or to start planning your awesome Ecuador vacation, feel free to contact us!