Dear Participants in the Quito Special Day – 10th September,


Travel Mart Latin American 2008 is upon us and here in Quito we‘re looking forward to welcoming you. To give you an idea of the planning, we will have 400 members of staff on duty and some 700 artists will perform during the opening and closing ceremonies. It promises to be quite an event!

We are delighted you have taken up our invitation to join us for the capital‘s Special Day. It‘s a great opportunity to get to know some of the many new attractions we have on offer, particularly in the Historic Center. We are confident the new sights and sounds of the city you will experience, if briefly, on Wednesday will convince you more than ever of Quito‘s potential and how to sell it to your clients.

For the day, we are dividing you into five groups. These are based on the ‘Wanderers’ of Ecuador, the great explorers of times past: the Valdivia from the Pacific Coast, Darwin and his famous Galápagos Islands, La Condamine for the Andes due to his association with the measuring of the Earth, and von Humboldt who brought the riches of the Amazon to the attention of the world.

These groups are determined by where your hotel is located in Quito. Please note the pick-up times from your hotel.

Please be punctual!  You must be waiting in the lobby of the hotel at the stipulated time. If you miss the bus (which of course you won‘t!), please contact the Travel Mart Hospitality Desk whose staff can arrange a taxi to take you to our location for breakfast, the Antiguo Hospital Militar, (address: calle Luis Dávila y Venezuela, Barrio de San Juan), located in the San Juan neighborhood, just to northeast of the Historic Center.

If you are wondering about registration at Travel Mart, the good news is that William H. Coleman Inc will be manning a registration table for you at the breakfast location.

What to wear? Please don your finest sneakers/trainers, sunblock, comfortable trousers, shirt, light sweater or fleece, sunglasses, camera (of course!), and plenty of energy and enthusiasm for the day‘s program.

So what do we have planned?  We have worked hard on an itinerary which fits as much as possible into the short time you have with us. It focuses on the new, restored or regenerated heart of the city. It includes:

1. The former Military Hospital in San Juan, soon to become the capital‘s new Centre for Contemporary Arts.
2. Carmen Alto convent - to say hello to the nuns and buy sweets from them, as they stay out-of-sight behind their wooden turnstiles.
3. The City Museum – the starting point for an understanding of the city.
4. La Ronda – a beautifully regenerated historical street, where you‘ll get the chance to play some traditional Quiteño games with the locals.
5. Santo Domingo Church – recently restored and often overlooked, one of Quito‘s religious gems.
6. The House-Museum of the great liberating Grand Marshall José Antonio de Sucre.

Lunch:  For La Condamines: Hotel Patio Andaluz
                 For the Humboldts and the Darwins: Mea Culpa Restaurant
                 For the Valdivias: Theatrum Restaurant

7. Visit to the impressive ‘Chapel of Man’ conceived by the indigenous Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín, in northern Quito.

You will start your return journeys in your respective group buses at 16:40, so you should expect to be back in your hotels between 17:00 and 18:00, depending where they are located in relation to the Chapel of Man. You will have time to change (and maybe even rest!) before the shuttle buses start leaving for the Welcome Reception that night.

As many of you will know, guiding is an essential cog in the wheel of the travel experience. So, for our Quito Special Day, we‘ve chosen some of the finest working in Ecuador today. They will be your guides for the entire day. Here‘s some information about them.