Cusco (Peru) could lose millions in tourism due to new strike on January 4

03-01-23

Representatives of the tourist trade warn that the violent protests are damaging their activities, generating large economic losses.

Different unions have announced that next Wednesday, January 4, they will restart demonstrations in the southern regions of the country. This situation has generated the concern of tourism entrepreneurs, because due to the protests tourists would choose to cancel their reservations, as happened in December 2022.

In Cusco, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Cusco, John Gonzalez lamented this situation and stressed that the demonstrations that are marred by violent clashes and acts of vandalism would generate a loss of S / 7 million per day in the region. "Cusco lives from tourism. If they harm this sector again with violent actions, tourism will die," he told Perú21.

In Arequipa, a similar situation would be experienced. The president of the Arequipa Chamber of Tourism, Walter Bustamante, said that in December, the protests caused the loss of around S/120 million, and if the demonstrations resume, the economic damage would also be S/7 million per day.

Losses in tourism

The demonstrations and protests that took place in December, which led to road blockades and the suspension of airport operations, generated large economic losses in different sectors.

Given the proximity of the end-of-year festivities, thousands of people who had planned to celebrate the arrival of the year 2023 in Cusco cancelled their tourist packages. This was indicated by Fernando Santoyo, vice-president of the Cusco Hotel Chamber, who warned that up to 70% of cancellations were reported, which would generate large economic losses.

For his part, Manuel Chavez, director of Tourism of the Chamber of Commerce of Cusco, said that on 27 December 2022 only 1,500 passengers entered the Cusco air terminal, when the projection was up to 3,500.

At the national level, the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) estimated that nationwide losses in the tourism sector amount to S/. 1.7 billion. "The recent violent events have caused cancellations of tourists from abroad who were coming to Peru, as well as domestic tourism, which is necessary to survive after the pandemic," said Tito Alegria, executive director of Canatur, in an interview with RPP Noticias.

For its part, the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Related Industries (AHORA Peru) projected that tourism losses would reach 450 million dollars and warned that this situation would last for the first two months of the year. "The economic losses that the sector is currently facing could extend into January and February," said Sergio Rivas, vice-president of AHORA Peru.

Different unions in the regions of Puno, Arequipa, Apurímac, Cusco, Madre de Dios and Ayacucho announced that from Wednesday 4 January they will resume demonstrations, thus ending the truce offered to the Executive for the end-of-year holidays.

For its part, the Regional Federation of Peasant Patrols of Cajamarca announced that next Thursday, 12 January, it will hold the march "The Taking of Lima", which will be joined by more than 1,300 members of 3,000 grassroots organisations.

In this respect, president Dina Boluarte questioned the call for this new mobilisation, which affects different economic sectors. "I ask those who are going to march, will this help to reactivate tourism in Cusco or will it reactivate the economy in Puno, Arequipa? What are we going to achieve with this?" she declared.