International tourist arrivals to Peru hit a 3.4 percent increase to 1,042,531 between January and April this year, boosted by the sound results of the country’s major destinations, according to the Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry (Mincetur).
“The reported figure is higher by 33,987 travelers from abroad than the one recorded during the corresponding period last year,” said Magali Silva, Mincetur’s head
The top government official noted the above-mentioned top-line growth in receipts is explained by a sharp increase of tourists from Bolivia, United States, Ecuador, Spain and Colombia, thus helping tourist sector from the Andean nation to expand.
Of the foreign visitors who visited Peru during the January-April stretch, Chilean topped the list by accounting for 29.5 percent of tourists, followed by the U.S. with a 14.8 percent share of the total.
Likewise, the data released Thursday by Mincetur showed that overseas Ecuadorians account for 6.7 percent of the total, while other foreign visitors came from Argentina (5.5 percent) and neighboring Colombian and Bolivia with 4.7 percent each.
“These six countries represent all together 66 percent of the country’s tourist receipts during the period ended April,” said the minister, who is also in charge of Peru's export and tourism promotion board (PromPeru).
Furthermore, Silva expressed her confidence the flow of visitors to the Andean nation will improve in the second half of the year.
“We expect to outnumber the flow of tourists with the promotional activities being undertaken by the sector as part of a strategic partnership with regional players and guilds engaged in the tourism industry,” she told Andina news agency.
(END) NDP/RES/LOG
Published: 6/19/2014