Peru is where the Amazon, Andes, and Pacific Coast converge
Peruvian tourism officials say their country has clearly been blessed by Mother Nature.
Jaime Cardenas, who oversees tourism promotions at the Peruvian trade commission’s Toronto office, told a June gathering hosted by Peruvian tourism board PromPeru that his country’s markedly varied landscapes are clearly intriguing for visitors.
“Peru’s natural diversity is nothing short of extraordinary,” he said. “Over 60% of the country’s territory lies within the Amazon rainforest,” which Cardenas labelled “one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. To this we add the dramatic peaks of the Andes and the vast Pacific coastline.”
Mountain-dwelling creatures like llamas and condors are often quickly associated with Peru but its large jungle region means visitors can go on tours that seek out jungle dwellers – such as monkeys and birds of paradise – as well.
Cardenas also noted that the descendants of pre-Columbian societies, such as the Incas, continue to maintain long-running traditions.
“In Peru, culture is not preserved behind glass,” he continued. “It breathes in its markets, in its music, in its craftsmanship and in the everyday pride of its people.”
Peru has many pre-Columbian archeological sites, including such famed Inca ones as Machu Picchu, but tourism authorities note that visitors can visit ruins built long before the rise of the Inca civilization, such as northern Peru’s Kuelap.
Cardenas reported that his country is home to luxury spas that provide wellness treatments that often are rooted in ancient Amazon and Andean traditions. “This is not manufactured wellness created for marketing purposes. It is ancestral, genuine and profoundly transformative.”
Luxury spas are often “integrated seamlessly into dramatic natural landscapes,” he continued.
Cardenas told the gathering that Peru’s tourism infrastructure is steadily growing and includes jungle river cruises, adding that adventure travel in his homeland “does not mean sacrificing… comfort.”
Peru last year saw 3.4 million foreign tourists, 78,554 of whom were Canadian. The country hosted 30,000 from Canada in the Jan-April period, slightly above the same period last year.
The gathering was told that Air Canada has seasonal winter service from Montreal and Toronto to Lima, while Air Transat has year-round service from both Montreal and Toronto to the Peruvian capital.
Copa Airlines in turn has daily service from both Montreal and Toronto to Panama City, from which there are seven daily flights to Lima and two weekly flights to the northern Peruvian city of Chiclayo. Laura Marin of Copa told the audience that people travelling from Montreal or Toronto to Peru can connect to Peru-bound flights in an hour in the Panamanian capital.
