Saturday, 03 of January of 2,009

More than two million tourists visited Peru in 2008

Over two million foreign visitors arrived in Peru in 2008, up 17% over the previous year, according to the government's tourist promotion office released today by the press in Lima.
28% of total tourist visits is for corporate or business travel, and the rest for recreation, health and family reasons, according to data from Prom-Peru cited by the newspaper El Comercio.
Of the 2.1 million people visited the country between January and November 2008, 25 percent came from Chile and another 17 percent of the U.S., according to the Commission for the Promotion of Peru Export and Tourism (Prom -Peru).
Also arrived visitors from Argentina (4.3%), England (3.7%), Spain (3.5%) and Colombia (3.4%), among others.
The director of Tourism Promotion Prom-Peru, Mara Seminario, stressed that Euro-American Summits and the Asia-Pacific (APEC) held in Lima in May and November 2008 respectively, and the signatures of trade agreements have strengthened corporate tourism.
In this regard, he recalled that many hotels have started investment added $ 580 million through 2010, for accommodation of four and five stars, but stressed that even greater attention should be given to issues of infrastructure, budget and public safety.
The insecurity, as we review the U.S. State Department, Peru puts at a disadvantage, and lack of connections in certain local and international destinations.
The newspaper El Comercio noted that this year the Aerocondor airline ceased operations while the company Star Peru dramatically reduced their flights.
It Seminar felt that 2009 will be a difficult year so far has not provided a specific target tourists.
The Peruvian government expects that at 2.018 to triple the number of tourists compared to 2008.

Source: Terra Peru / EFE