Peru tourism sector bleeds as unrest refuses to die down

Friday, January 6, 2023

The turmoil in Peru refuses to die down adversely affecting the tourism driven economy. The ouster and detention of President Pedro Casillo on December 7 sparked a s eries of deadly protests whch has taken a toll on the country’s tourism sector, Reuters news agency quoted a miister as saying.

“We had really expected tourism to take off this year,” Peru’s minister of foreign trade and tourism Luis Fernando Helguero said in an interview on local television station Canal N late on Wednesday. “The worst part are the cancellations in the first half of the year, some 50% to 60%.”

after a two-week break over the holidays, the protests have begun again, leaving More than two dozen dead. Roadblocks and accidents are rampant causing loss and inconviennce to the locals and tourists alike.

Demonstrators have demanded the resignation of the new president, Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress, a constitutional reform and the release of Castillo.

Early on Thursday, protesters blocked a section of Peru’s main coastal highway, forcing dozens of cargo trailers to park along the shoulder, local television showed. Meanwhile the train service that runs to Machu Picchu, the country’s most-visited tourist spot, was suspended ahead of fresh protests, with the tourism ministry saying it had evacuated 2,062 tourists from the area on Tuesday.

Peru expected the arrival of around 3.5 million tourists this year, according to the most recent estimate from the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Associates (AHORA PERU).

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