While the archaeological site of Machu Picchu is expected to retain its place as Peru’s most popular tourist attraction, efforts are as well under way to increase visitor numbers by developing other niche segments, including food, fashion and sport tourism.

 

The move forms part of the government’s plans to drive long-term increase in the tourism industry as it sets out to attract additional than 3.5m international visitors to the country by 2016.Around 70% of Peru’s tourists visit the country to see Machu Picchu, for which celebrations were held last year to mark the 100th anniversary of the site’s discovery. Just this month, Machu Picchu was named of USA Today’s “10 incredible new adventures for 2012”. But a decision to restrict daily visitors to the site to 2500 for conservation purposes has highlighted the need to develop new segments in the country’s tourism sector.

 

Tourist arrivals in Peru rose by 9% in 2011, considerably higher than the world average of 4%, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur). In total, 2.5m tourists visited Peru last year, collectively spending $3.3bn. Mincetur figures showed that the figure marked a 16% increase on tourism revenues for 2010. The government expects the number of tourists visiting Peru in 2012 to reach 2.8m, an increase of 12%.

 

The minister of foreign trade and tourism, José Luis Silva Martinot, said that decentralising the country’s tourism sector would enable Peru to capitalise on the interest it was generating internationally part potential visitors.

“We have seen there is a special interest in Peru and its nature around the world,” he told local media, “but if we want to keep growing above other nations and maintain an expansion of 9% in this sector we have to develop new activities.”

 

Tourism already forms a key component in the country’s wider economy, providing employment for 1.14m Peruvians last year, according the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The WTTC anticipates that this figure, which represents 8.8% of total employment, will increase to 1.6m, or 9.9% of employment, by 2021. It as well forecasts that the sector’s total contribution to GDP will rise from 10.4% in 2011 to 11.5% by 2021.

 

The authorities are keen to tap into Peru’s rich biodiversity, which spans its deserts, mountains, jungle and coastal regions, to boost visitor numbers. The country’s Amazon region has already earned a reputation as a prime destination for ecotourism. Recent photos in the international press of a long-unseen Peruvian tribe of Mashco-Piro Indians became a talking point around the world. The photos of the tribe, which was sighted near Manú National Park, highlighted Peru’s rich heritage while as well showcasing the country’s vast expanses of untouched land.

The government is hoping that other emerging niche segments such as food, sports and fashion events will as well play a part in raising Peru’s profile on the international stage.

 

Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio, who plans to create a gastronomic complex in Lima’s San Isidro neighbourhood, is spearheading campaigns to put Peru’s cuisine on the map. “Just as the Louvre’s pyramid or the Pompidou Centre in an old Paris neighbourhood gave new life to these spaces, the combination of modernity and tradition allow (....) Lima to acquire a new gastronomic price,” he told the local media. Meanwhile, the 2011 Lima Fashion Week brought additional than $80m of revenue into the country, according to Peru’s Export and Tourism Promotion Board (Promperu). Around 1400 international buyers from Latin America’s fashion industry are estimated to make the trip to the city for the three-day event that takes place annually in April.

 

Peru’s efforts to raise its profile globally were given an additional boost this year when the country participated for the first time in the Dakar Rally, an annual long-distance, off-road race that moved from Europe to South America in 2009. Mincetur estimated that additional than 500,000 Peruvians travelled to watch the various stages of the rally, with Lima hosting the race’s final stages.

 

Keen to build on the success of this year’s event and tap further into an significant niche market, the Peruvian government has made an official request to host the opening stages of the 2013 rally. With the government pursuing this and other opportunities to diversify its tourism offerings, the sector should have ample chances to show the world it is a well-balanced investment.

 

Analyse of the sector 30/11/2010

Domestic tourism in Peru continues to be larger in volume and price terms than departures and arrivals. Promperu, the country’s tourism promotion agency, continued to perform entirely using creative and dynamic promotion strategies. While world economic troubles could be a potential threat to Peru’s tourism increase, Promperu and other private and public associations are doing a good job of keeping domestic tourists visiting different areas of the country. By doing this, Peruvians are supporting their own economy by not spending abroad.

 

Not even the ICA earthquake that occurred in 2007 or the slowdown in the United States economy was able to stop Peru’s popularity as a tourist destination. Creative promotion strategies, have kept Peru in tourists minds as an exotic place to travel, encouraging tourists from amount over the world to keep visiting. The earthquake’s reconstruction has been slow but Peru was able to maintain normal tourism operations after the earthquake occurred. Fortunately for Peru’s tourism infrastructure, the earthquake struck in an area which is not considered a hub for Peru’s tourism. On the other hand, worldwide publicity and Peru’s media coverage has encouraged tourists to keep coming to the area.

 

 

Machu Picchu was declared a new wonder of the world in the New 7 Wonders contest held in July 2007 and the interest in the historic site increased on each continent. In 2008, Machu Picchu continued to be the number tourist attraction in Peru. The site has been advertised in magazines, WebPages and television shows.

There is a growing trend for US visitors to look for a different tourist experience in order to have better contact with the local communities instead of just looking at historic sites. Travellers are very willing to pay to remain with domestic families, eat what they eat and live the way they live in order to learn their customs and Machu Picchu has managed to market this type of vivencial or immersion tourism in the area as well.

 

 

In 2008, Peru hosted the APEC Summit (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) in Lima. The APEC Summit caused a boom in tourist arrivals and created high occupancy rates in 2008 as it brought leaders from the 21 member nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation together, inclunding officials and other business men/women during 22nd –23rd November, 2008.

Consultant Agency Maximixe estimated that direct foreign investment in Peru would reach US$12,500 million in 2009 and $17,500 million in 2010 in part because of the positive results at the APEC Summit meetings. If it had not been for APEC, Peru would have probably had foreign investment rise only to US$10,150 million in 2009 and $12,700 million in 2010.