on Tuesday lamented the radical protests that have been taking place in several cities and stated that they are affecting Peru's tourism and foreign trade activities.
"We are amid protests that have a certain degree of legitimacy, but not at the level that are being held. The current moment is very sensitive; they (protests) have been affecting tourism and foreign trade," he said in remarks to TVPeru.
The
government official indicated that airport seizures are causing very serious damage to tourism activities in regions and the entire country in general since stranded tourists, as they cannot enter or leave cities, might get a negative impression of Peru.
"Bad news runs faster. In the tourism sector, bad news is hard to reverse. In the past, there used to be 'word of mouth,' but now bad news spreads faster due to social networks," he noted.
The
high-ranking official explained that security matters are essential for tourism activities. Yet these protests leave both domestic and foreign tourists unprotected.
Minister Helguero indicated that these protests hinder the process for the recovery of the tourism sector, which had been achieved after the suspension (of activities) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We project to end 2022 with a (registered) arrival of 2 million foreign tourists. It is true that we (the figure) are going to grow compared to 2021. However, before the pandemic began,
we used to receive 4.4 million (tourists) a year. Those unfortunate events hinder the recovery process," he pointed out.
In this sense, the minister specified that Peru's southern Arequipa region receives 30,000 tourists a day. However, the result of current protests costs S/3 million (US$783,699) in daily economic losses in said area.
"And we are not only talking about Arequipa; Cusco faces another reality, and Andahuaylas faces another reality. The seizure of terminals affects us a lot," he warned.