For years, Quito's historic center was the kind of place that foreign visitors avoided, aside from a quick in-and-out day tour. Gloomy, dirty and poorly maintained, the neighborhood didn't do justice to the magnificent landmark buildings that line its narrow streets.

But today, it's not uncommon to find travelers strolling the downtown area day and night, and even checking into the growing number of boutique hotels that began sprouting up in 2003. Thanks to an infusion of investment and attention, Quito's downtown, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is being reborn. Indeed, Ecuador's capital city—just a few miles from the equator, which tourism officials like to call the "center of the earth"—has rediscovered its own center.

"The citizens of Quito have very much felt a boost in pride from the massive restoration and rehabilitation of the historic center of the city," says Cristina de Miranda, director of the Quito Visitors' Bureau. "Not only are people enjoying this part of the city—after it spent decades as a no-go zone—but citizens feel that their city has much to be proud of, and want to show it off to visitors from around the world."

Much of Quito's progress, according to de Miranda, is the result of initiatives like Plan Q, a marketing and promotion strategy launched in 2002 and masterminded by Josep Chias at Chias Marketing, a company that has offices in Barcelona, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.

"The Corporación Metropolitana de Turismo de Quito [Quito Metropolitan Tourism Corporation] was created as part of this plan," she explains. "It has grown in stature and reach, manning six visitor information centers in the city, for example, and promoting the city in fairs such as WTM [World Travel Market] in London and ITB [a travel trade show] in Berlin."

A quantifiable result of the recent initiatives, according to city officials, is a surge in visitors. "In terms of overall numbers, international visitors have doubled since 2002," de Miranda says. "In 2007 alone, we experienced 16 percent growth in international visitors. There has been a growing interest in Quito, particularly from the incentives, congress and conventions sector. The hotel-occupancy rate for Quito averaged 70 percent in 2007, compared with around 30 percent in 2002."

These increases, of course, mean big money for the city and local businesses. Foreign visitors generated some $606.7 million in revenue in 2006, and the second phase of the marketing plan, dubbed Plan Q2012, aims to produce $1 billion revenues from foreign tourists and business travelers by 2012.

Historic Treasures
The clean-up and restoration of Quito's city center, funded partly by two loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, has become "a template for other cities to copy," de Miranda says. Private investment has also brought new options for business and leisure travelers. In addition to restored historic landmarks—like the San Francisco church, which dates to 1535, and La Compañía de Jesús, a Baroque church dating to 1605—the city center is now home to a growing number of boutique hotels, which provide interesting alternatives for any globetrotter weary of the same old chain-brand accommodations.

Among the offerings is the 31-room Patio Andaluz, which opened in 2003 in a restored Colonial-era building. Plaza Grande, a 15-suite property steps from the presidential palace, has a ballroom that accommodates up to 200 for corporate meetings and events. Also recently opened is El Relicario del Carmen, an 18-room hotel housed in an 18th-century mansion, and Villa Colonna, a B&B with five suites. Still to come is a 35-room inn, to open next year in a 19th-century home on Plaza San Francisco. The as-yet unnamed hotel belongs to Metropolitan Touring, Ecuador's largest tour operator.

The city center is also increasingly used for business gatherings and corporate events, according to de Miranda. "As a venue for unique events in singular spaces—such as Colonial convents, monasteries, patios, squares—the historic center is increasingly being employed for eye-catching opening and closing ceremonies for congresses and conventions," she reports.

Quito Modern
As impressive as the city's historic architecture may be, business travelers tend to stick to the neighborhoods in the northern part of the city, where high-rise buildings, corporate headquarters and large hotels dominate the skyline.
With a population of some 1.2 million, Quito is smaller than the coastal city of Guayaquil. But the capital has grown steadily as a business destination, thanks to major employers, including the federal government, tourism businesses, flower exporters, oil producers, and the mining and light industries.

"Quito has evolved more and more [as] the business and financial center of the country," according to Edmund Negwer, general manager of the Swissôtel Quito, which is in the midst of renovating its executive floors. "All government offices and also all foreign agencies have their main headquarters in the city. The local government has made several changes in the structure of the city, making it more modern, safer and practical for the business traveler and for all other tourists as well."

Among the other large hotels that serve business travelers is the Hilton Colón Quito, which will open a new tower, called La Pinta, in June. The building will house 42 Executive Suites—each with separate living room, bedroom and two bathrooms—as well as three meeting rooms, a private business center and private lounge area (the Hilton's existing Santa Maria tower was renovated in 2007).

Other upgrades include the former Four Points property, which has been renovated and recast as the 170-room Sheraton Quito. Debuting in May is the 139-room Holiday Inn Express Quito, which has a business center, meeting space, fitness center and indoor swimming pool.

The city also welcomed a new convention facility this year, when the former Eugenio Espejo hospital was renovated and reopened as the Eugenio Espejo Convention Center. The neoclassical structure has capacity for 1,200 conference participants, with six separate meeting and event spaces, plus a chapel that accommodates 100 for special events. Later this year, a new auditorium will be inaugurated within walking distance, set in a renovated theater that seats 1,200.

Improving the Flow
For all the renovations at the city's hotels and historic landmarks, the most massive project now in the works is the new airport. Quito's existing facility, Mariscal Sucre, was spruced up in 2004 and 2005, but is eternally hobbled by its tight quarters inside the city limits, as well as its high elevation. (At about 9,000 feet, Quito is among the highest capital cities in the world.)

The new international airport, set to open on a 3,700-acre site outside the city in 2010, will be nearly 13 times the size of the existing Mariscal Sucre. Of special interest to intercontinental travelers, the new facility won't suffer from the constraints presented by Sucre's high elevation and short runway, allowing for nonstop flights from more far-flung destinations aboard larger jets.

The airport is "the most important project from a tourism and business perspective in the city of late," says de Miranda. "The airport will be able to cater to greater numbers of planes and larger planes, and will permit trans-Atlantic planes to take off with full loads. At present, they fly first to Guayaquil, fuel up, then cross the Atlantic. With the opening of the new airport, we anticipate far-improved air connections for the capital."
As a result, de Miranda predicts, "Quito will become a hub for northwestern South America. Flight frequencies will increase, and fares will come down."

When the new airport opens, Mariscal Sucre will be converted to a park, with part of the terminal building repurposed as a convention center. (For now, heavy packers take note: Passengers traveling from New York and Miami to Ecuador through June 15th with LAN Airlines, which has a hub in Quito, may bring a third piece of luggage—in addition to the regularly allowed two 50-pound pieces—free of charge.)

Mass transit within the city is also slated for improvement. The existing Trole network is to be replaced by a light-rail system called TRAQ, which will extend 22 miles through the city, transporting some 300,000 passengers per day at speeds of up to 50 miles an hour. The plans are in the "finance and technical phase," according to de Miranda, with companies pitching for the concession by early 2009.

With new hotels, a modern airport and mass-transit system in the works, it may be said that Quito is headed fast toward becoming a city of contrasts. And that makes sense, given what travelers now expect from this Andean metropolis. The modern world may demand 21st-century conveniences, after all, but Quito's centuries-old culture and newly refreshed historic architecture are what make it a unique destination.