uayaquil’s leading hotels, including the Hotel Oro Verde, Sun City’s Sheraton Four Points and Howard Johnson, the Grand Hotel Guayaquil, the Hotel Continental, and the Hilton Colon have been preparing for the city’s surge in visitor numbers by improving infrastructures and raising service standards. Top hoteliers in the city are working with tourism officials to create a conventions bureau to enhance Guayaquil’s business tourism offer.

With its excellent shrimp, lobster and fish, seafood is obviously a specialty in Guayaquil. High quality seafood can be found in hotels and renowned restaurants such as Caracol Azul, Anderson and Lo Nuestro. The city also boasts exceptional coffee, a dizzying array of tropical fruit and the world’s finest cocoa.

Regional cuisine includes traditional dishes such as grilled steak or fish with rice and beans, patacones (fried plantains), caldo de manguera (pork tripe soup), fried rice with seafood, grilled or fried maduro (ripe green plantain) and a variety of seafood stews.

Guayaquil’s renovated boardwalks (malecónes) have been an amazing success. Malecón 2000, which offers shops, leisure facilities, cinemas, parks and fountains attracted as many as 60 million visitors in its first three years. The area surrounding the boardwalk is known as the Zona Rosa, a hotspot for bars and nightclubs that never seems to close down.

Puerto Hondo is an ecosystem of preserved mangroves just ten miles outside of Guayaquil. Boasting one of the planet’s most unique and beautiful ecosystems, Puerto Hondo’s crystal clear waters and tranquil setting make it an ideal place to spend a relaxing day in the best setting nature has to offer.

Guayaquil offers a direct path to the Galapagos Islands and the famed Route of the Sun, the country’s stretch of pristine Pacific beaches. Within an hour’s drive of the city, beach resorts offer surfing, water sports and adventure activities.

Playas is one such resort located 60 miles southwest of Guayaquil. Known for its excellent whale watching, Playas is authentic Ecuador, and, as it is surrounded by shrimp farms, it offers abundant and exquisite local seafood dishes.

Further to the north, on the tip of the Santa Elena Peninsula and 90 miles from Guayaquil is Salinas. This upmarket resort boasts quality hotels, a yacht club and great nightlife. It is also the ideal place to try your hand at water sports such as jet skiing, wind surfing, snorkeling and deep-sea fishing.

Another popular Pacific beach near Guayaquil, especially among backpackers, is Montañita, a surfing hotspot that has become a popular destination throughout the year with both national and internationals surf buffs.