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The Galapagos Islands in Covid-19 Times
Best Galapagos Yachts and Tour Packages for this year
July 14, 2020
The Galapagos Islands are now open – What to Expect
August 26, 2020This post was written and published in early August 2020, for fresher information please refer to our updated article regarding Covid-19 in the Galapagos by following this link
Did the predictions you made last December for this year were accurate at all? We all had a timeline of what we wanted to see and do throughout the next twelve months and by March, boom! Most borders were closed, as well as schools, stores, and restaurants, governments issued stay at home orders, and all our plans quickly faded away.
Working in the tourism industry in a world that cannot travel is hard, but our guests' health is our number one priority, as it has always been, even before the pandemic hit us. We patiently waited for things to get better, sending our best vibes and energy to every first line worker, and although we know this is not over yet, we are happy to see improvements all around the world.
The Galapagos islands had a few confirmed cases of COVID-19, thankfully most people recovered and the islands haven’t reported new cases for over two months now. The government is still doing tests on the residents of the archipelago to make sure there are no new cases. Everyone there is trying their best to pass over the pandemic and return to their regular activities, the main income in the Galapagos islands comes from tourism. Galapagos authorities authorized to resume touristic activities starting the first week of July.
Please keep in mind that as explained at the beginning of this article, the news and information listed here are based on the situation in the Galapagos Islands by the end of July 2020. For fresh up to date information, please follow this link onto our most recent news regarding Covid in the Galapagos Islands
Our sales and customer support team have worked tirelessly to accommodate all guests that were supposed to travel while our borders were closed. We are happy that the vast majority of our clients have found a satisfactory alternative to their original plans by rescheduling their trips in most cases for 2021 dates and in other cases for late 2020, some of our clients are still deciding when it will be best to visit us, and we have been able to offer complete flexibility to choose any available date without having to tell us an specific date right away, our clients will be able to decide anytime in the future when they are ready to provide an specific new travel date.
We know that these times are indeed full of uncertainty, so to accommodate our clients we have:
- Flexibilized our confirmation policies for new bookings.
- We offer more flexibility and options for changes of dates, cancelations, payment schedules and, as always.
- All our new and past clients are receiving support from our whole team of experts who are ready to provide up to date information and the best alternatives for each case.
Our local partners in the Galapagos Islands, as well as in Ecuador Mainland have done their part too. All hotels and cruises have worked on implementing hygiene protocols approved by the World Tourism Organization, to provide Safe Travels certifications, adapting their operation to the current country regulations, they are going the extra mile to make sure all guests are safe at all times, while still delivering the perfect vacation experience.
The Galapagos Islands are a destination that goes along perfectly with the current travel panorama. Most cruises have capacity for only 16 guests and due to the conservation efforts, not many tourists are allowed in a visitor point at the same time, only a couple of the islands that form the archipelago are actually inhabited, all of this together, along with the precautions and protocols we are applying, make the Galapagos Islands the perfect place to host your next vacation.
The general measures that all operators are implementing include:
- All spaces are now being disinfected at least 3 times a day
- All staff members have gone through hygiene courses to handle every aspect of the operation, from a safe way to welcome you, a clean room and social areas to neat meals. You can be certain that everything you see and touch is safe!
- During land excursions you must distance yourself from the other guests as required for safety.
As of right now, and we believe for quite some time on, everyone in Ecuador is required to wear a face mask by law; either if you are in a car, in a store, walking in the streets or in a dine-in restaurant - of course before you get your order - but you are required to wear a face mask to
prevent the spread of the virus. Alcohol is available pretty much everywhere so you can disinfect your hands if you are not able to wash them. Restaurants and public spaces have stickers indicating where you can sit and where you can’t, keeping in mind social distancing rules, also for places where you should expect to queue will show you where to stand to be away enough from the person in front and behind you.
Ecuador is requesting all incoming visitors to do a 14 day quarantine at their own expense before starting with any touristic activities, this regulation will most likely be lifted sometime in September, but there is yet no official word on when that could happen.
We are anxiously waiting for you to come visit us and see all the wonders our country has to show you, we are sure you haven’t lost your wanderlust and we are ready to welcome you with arms wide open. The tourism industry supports countless familiar economies, including hotel and cruise workers, tour guides, restaurants workers, travel agencies workers, as well as indigenous communities, social projects, and more. When you travel you make a bigger impact on us, than the one our country makes on you!
If you would like to know more about a specific product, service or destination, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time, our team will be thrilled to talk with you, and stay tuned for our future updates and Galapagos travel news during the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be providing frequent updates on our site as well as on our social networks, so don't forget to follow us and like us!
