New York, Sep 25 (EFE).- Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) Úrsula León held a meeting in New York on Tuesday with representatives of Virtuoso, a global network of luxury travel agencies to continue positioning Peru as a tourist destination for clients with greater purchasing power.
Peru has partnered with Virtuoso for 15 years to develop the United States, Canadian, Mexican, Australian, Brazilian, and Asian markets through its Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Export and Tourism (PromPeru).
A priority for PromPerú – in which U.S. tourism will be given a priority – is to regain pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals. For this, Peru offers a wide range of destinations that embrace sustainability.
The minister wants to continue positioning Peru “as one of the places of economic growth” and promoting it on the major platforms.
“We must not be afraid to compete with anyone,” she said. To this end, they have the support of Virtuoso, which plans to present the country at several important tourism fairs next year.
Tourism as an engine of growth
“Tourism is the engine of economic growth that moves the needle of the gross domestic product (GDP). Peru has sea, mountains, culture, history, museums, one of the most beautiful government palaces I have ever seen, a beautiful main square, whale watching, flora and fauna,” the minister proudly explained.
In addition, she insisted that Peru “has too much potential” for tourism to be relegated to a leisure topic; she assured that to change this reality they will work on a national tourism plan and policy where one of the objectives will be to position Peru as an engine of economic growth that generates jobs.
León also acknowledged that to accomplish the plan it is necessary to improve transportation networks for better journeys and fewer accidents, in addition to returning to pre-pandemic levels of flight routes.
Tourism and brand recovery
According to official data, in 2023, Peru received 2,524,658 tourists compared to 4,371,787 in 2019. However, there is optimism regarding recovery based on new data for 2024.
Between January and August of this year, 2,178,302 tourists visited, an increase compared to the same period in 2023 with 1,564,957 arrivals.
In concrete terms, tourism from the United States is also increasing, when looking at this year’s statistics: 411,210 visitors compared to 309,245 for the same period in 2023.
Tourist arrivals from the U.S. occupy an important place in the plans for 2025. The country is the one that spends the most, 740 million dollars.
In addition, León indicated that, as part of the plans, they are relaunching the Peru brand this year and promoting 17 tourist routes.
“Peru is not only Machu Picchu,” she said, adding that the re-launching of her country as a tourist destination has to be in style.
During the meeting, the Virtuoso representatives, who only work with high-profile and wealthy clients, explained to León -in their first meeting with the new minister- who they are, what they do, and about the team of people with whom they work in different regions.
As part of her official visit to New York, León visited a group of Peruvian entrepreneurs from the textile industry who participated in trade fairs with the support of PromPerú. The commission helps them increase market share for their products. In addition, she met with Peruvian chefs working in restaurants in this city. EFE
PromPerú supported EFE for the preparation of this article.