The orange economy drives economic recovery in Santa Cruz

26-02-23

Tourism was affected by the pandemic and social conflicts. Now that these moments have been overcome, and with the application of supportive policies, the sector is on the upswing.

With the approval of the departmental tax exemption law for the tourism sector, Santa Cruz is on its way to reactivating its orange economy, which was seriously affected by the pandemic and social conflicts. The aim of the law is to encourage formality and legality in the sector.

"The application of this type of law in favour of tourism will encourage people to buy tourist services with quality, safety and with the guarantee of good service from companies that are legally established and work in a formal manner," says Javier Rivera Segovia, director of the Hotel and Tourism Administration course at the Universidad Franz Tamayo, Unifranz.

Informality reaches 60%.

In the same vein, the departmental assemblywoman and drafter of the law, Paola Aguirre, while presenting the bill, said that the law aims to boost economic recovery and ensure quality service to users.

"We have a high level of informality, more than 60%, and what is intended is that, through this incentive law, we can formalise the registration of all tourism service providers that are scattered and are not yet listed in the records of the Governorate to establish public-private partnerships, which will boost the development of this important sector of the economy of the department," said the legislator.

Meanwhile, the director of Tourism and Culture of the Governorate, Rodrigo Barbery, assures that all categories of the tourism sector will have 120 days to obtain a free operating licence.

The orange economy is the third largest source of employment in the department of Santa Cruz. The government's strategy aims to turn the service and tourism sector into the main source of employment in the department.

Rivera Segovia assures that tourism in Santa Cruz is currently undergoing a process of reactivation. The pandemic and the political situation have caused an alarming decrease in the number of national and foreign visitors.

 "(...) This situation is changing. Tourism is picking up again (...). People are starting to go out and that is encouraging for the different companies providing tourism services," he says.

The academic believes that in order to boost inbound tourism, it is necessary to work in a more planned way to achieve greater international presence in the different international fairs that exist and to showcase the best of the cultural, natural, heritage and folkloric wealth of each of the country's departments and tourist regions.

Diversifying the offer for domestic tourism

Domestic tourism - according to the academic - has to be promoted through the diversification of products, generating new experiences so that the visitor can repeat the destination, but with a different experience.

"Destinations must work on customer loyalty. This action will have a double benefit, since a repeat tourist is a more conscious and responsible tourist, and therefore will be much more respectful of the heritage, culture, nature and cultural manifestations of that place," he points out.

Opportunities for hotels and tourism in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a land of opportunities; this has allowed the hotel sector to develop and become increasingly attractive for international brands and luxury hotel chains, which already have a presence in the eastern capital.

The tourism sector in Santa Cruz has a lot of potential. It is not yet being tapped and already requires innovative professionals, capable of designing the tourism of tomorrow, applying new technologies to transform the sector and create an innovative experience.