Ecuador was built on bananas. Then, in the 1970s, this tiny South American country struck oil. Forward thinkers, though, are looking to tourism to keep Ecuador's economy afloat when the oil dries up -- as it is expected to do an estimated 15 years from now.
Today, oil revenue amounts for approximately $2,061 million per year, accounting for almost 40 percent of the country's exports. Bananas and tourism generate $969 million and $569 million, respectively. Clearly Ecuador will require either a lot more tourists or a whole mountain of bananas to keep itself going when the wells are exhausted.
Those thinkers, though, have been planning for decades, and this year a showcase redevelopment scheme has come to fruition. Named "Project Q" and funded with a $41 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, it has focused on the restoration and regeneration of Ecuador's capital, Quito.