Peru among world’s best countries to visit

Adventurers about to volunteer abroad in Vietnam or take a gap year in Peru or Africa may be pleased to learn that they are among the world’s top countries to visit.
This is according to the readers of tourism magazine Wanderlust, who voted Namibia as the second best country in the world.
The Wanderlust Travel Awards 2009 also placed New Zealand as the world’s third greatest location, while Peru came sixth with 95 per cent of the vote.
Vietnam placed eight and Indonesia ninth, but the top spot was claimed by the land of geisha, pioneering technology and culinary delights – Japan.
Two great-value South-East Asian countries – Indonesia and Vietnam – also entered the top ten, while there was overwhelming support for Antarctica and the Galapagos – which aren’t countries," stated Wanderlust.Wanderlust is the UK's leading travel magazine for independent-minded and adventurous travellers looking for world class information and advice about where to go, what to visit and how to get there.

Source: Andina

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Amazon River ranks fifth in natural wonders contest

The Amazon River/Rainforest ranks fifth according to the latest ranking of contest organizer, the New 7 Wonders Foundation.
Iguazu Falls, located in Argentina and Brazil, top the list of 28 Official Finalist Candidates competing to be one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, followed by the Great Barrier Reef (Australia and Papua New Guinea), Indonesia’s Komodo Island and Ha Long Bay.
The contest will end in mid-2011. Loreto regional government asked the support of all Peruvian citizens so the Amazon River can become one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
The Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia, the Amazon jungle or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres), located within nine nations.
The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total flow greater than the top ten rivers worldwide combined. It accounts for approximately one-fifth of the total world river flow and has the biggest drainage basin on the planet. Not a single bridge crosses the Amazon.

Source: Andina

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Trujillo develops projects to promote tourism

The northern Peruvian city of Trujillo is hosting a two-day forum called “Tourist Perspectives of the Historic City of Trujillo” in order to discuss and propose measures to boost local tourism industry.
The event, held August 20-21, is attended by several tourism experts who will look for ways to contribute with tourism promotion in this northern city.

Local tourism official Jorge Ruiz Barcellos said that they will discuss issues such as the conservation and promotion of ancient monuments, medium and long-term investment projects, museography, marketing and promotion of tourism to Trujillo, among other topics.

“The event aims to encourage all public and private sectors' representatives to promote Trujillo's tourism offer so as to attract more visitors”, he said.

Ruiz pointed out that over 200 people will participate in this event in coordination with Peruvian National Institute of Culture (INC), Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), Chamber of Commerce and Production of La Libertad, the Municipality of Trujillo and La Libertad Regional Government.

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Adventures by Disney launches Peru tours for next year

Adventures by Disney will offer next year a number of travel tours that cycle from the Peruvian capital Lima to Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco and back to Lima, giving tourists the opportunity to explore a blend of cultures, history and natural beauty.
The tour's highlights include a visit to the Center for Traditional Textiles in Cusco, where master weavers demonstrate their intricate art, as well as how to spin and dye alpaca wool.
And a privately guided Machu Picchu tour, in which tourists will spend an afternoon exploring the fascinating ruins and stunning views of these magnificent structures surrounded by green peaks glazed by a soft mist.They will also have the chance to raft down the Urubamba River (Class I-II rapids), where experienced guides will describe the fascinating cultural and natural history as tourists glide along this scenic route.The tour will also take visitors through the ancient Incan path into the fascinating ruins of Moray and Maras in Cusco's Sacred Valley.

Source: Andina

Tours in Cusco / Hotels in Cusco

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Discovery Channel launches adventure tours to Peru

Discovery Channel is launching a new brand of tours and trips called Discovery Adventures and Peru has been included in its hot destination list highlighting its Inca Ruins of Machu Picchu and the mighty Amazon River.
Tour prices range from 3,000 to 800 dollars per adult international airfares not included, and last from 15 to 5 days, while departures start in December this year. The 15-day trip called "Amazon and Inca Adventure" includes visits to Lima, Iquitos, Amazon Jungle, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cuzco, Sacred Valley, Deluxe Inca Trail, and Machu Picchu. In its website, Discovery Adventures invites tourists to "explore the best of Peru, from the ancient Inca ruins of Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu to the natural wonders of the Amazon Jungle". "Take a boat tour of Taquile and Uros Islands and discover the fascinating culture of the people of Lake Titicaca. The prize adventure begins as you embark on a 4-day Inca Trail hike through incredible nature to the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu", it added.The brand also offers trips to destinations including Mexico, Costa Rica, the Amazon, the Galapagos, India, Thailand, Cambodia, China, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Alaska and the U.S. Southwest. Itineraries will range from cruises and safaris to exploring the ancient civilizations of the Incas, the Egyptians and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Associated Press reported.
Tour themes will tie in with places featured on Discovery Channel programs like Man V. Wild, Out of Egypt, Discovery Atlas, Dirty Jobs and Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein. Tourists will have opportunities to explore ruins and historic sites, as well as to do volunteer work in the destinations and experience local cultures.
Departures begin in December. The trips will run from three to 24 days and are being offered in partnership with the tour company G.A.P. Adventures.
Prices start at $2,000 per person, plus airfare, with the price covering lodging, breakfast and some other amenities. Groups will be small, just six to 15 people depending on the destination, with all trips suitable for families.

Source: Andina

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Cusco to become fashion capital of Latin America

Cusco will become the fashion capital of Latin America when the “Cusco always fashion” show takes place in October featuring the best of young Peruvian designers' work, announced Wednesday the head of the Regional Directorate for Foreign Trade and Tourism (Dircetur), Victor Hugo Perez.
"One of the main objectives of this event is to turn Cusco into the design and fashion capital of Latin America, we aim to create a different and unusual tourist attraction," the tourism official explained to Andina news agency.

The idea is to mix pre-Columbian with contemporary designs, non-traditional, in order to promote the Peruvian style.

The organization is considering requesting the participation of at least ten well-known national designers with international experience, as well as different models interested in appearing on the catwalk along with other local models from Cusco.

Several fashion shows are expected to take place in different parts of the Imperial City.

However, the main event will be held in Koricancha, where the best designs will be exhibited

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Nearly 5,000 tourists visited Colca Valley during National Holidays

A total of 4,726 tourists visited the Colca Valley in Arequipa during the long holiday weekend on the occasion of Peru's independence anniversary, the Head of Autonomous Authority of Colca (Autocolca) Jose Luis Talavera said Sunday.
Talavera pointed out that despite a decrease in tourist arrivals compared to 2008, this year's figure is important if we consider the global economic crisis and swine flu emergency.The Autocolca head said that the heavy snowfall in the area was another factor that negatively impacted the tourist industry, forcing authorities to close the road for several hours on July 27 and 28; "that is why many people had to cancel their trips," he explained.
Buses transporting tourists to Colca Valley had to wait along the road, allowing travelers to appreciate the scenic landscape with volcanoes and mountains completely covered with snow.
Regarding the arrival of tourists to Colca, Talavera said that Autocolca considers those visits registered from July 27 to 29, despite snowfall in this part of Arequipa.
He added that despite health and economic issues around the globe, Colca Valley registered a 11 percent increase in tourist arrivals from January to June 2009 versus the same period last year.

Source: Andina

Hotels in Arequipa / Hotels in Colca / Tours Arequipa + Colca

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Cusco ranked third in Best Latin American cities contest

The city of Cusco in southeastern Peru got the third spot among cities from Central and South America in the contest “World’s best” organized by Travel+Leisure magazine, reported today Peru's Tourism and Export Promotion Board (PromPeru).
The first spot was occupied by Buenos Aires, Argentina and the second place by Oaxaca, Mexico.
Cusco was also voted the world's 16th most popular tourist destination.Popular destinations such as Barcelona, London and even Paris did not reach the global list of 20 top cities. Indian city Udiapur led this year's list, pushing 2008's winner Bangkok to the third place.
The magazine, which conducted its poll between January-March 2009, also ran a rating of the world's best hotels, top tour operators and top large-ship cruise lines. In the category of Central and South America’s best resorts, Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel was ranked 4th after the Blancaneaux Lodge in San Ignacio (Belice), the Four Seasons Resort in Carmelo (Uruguay) and Explora Patagonia (Chile).
In the City Hotels category, the Monasterio Hotel in Cusco was also ranked 4th, after the Duhau-Park Hyatt Palace and the Alvear Palace Hotel, both in Argentina; followed by the Casa Santo Domingo Hotel in Antigua, Guatemala.A festive ceremony was held in New York honoring the winners.
In first half 2009, Peru appeared in many important American magazines and newspapers like Elite Traveler, Travel and Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Bon Appetite, Gourmet, New York Times, among others.
Cusco is surrounded by formidable Inca buildings, palaces made with stones and amazing fortresses as it was the ancient capital of the vast Inca empire.

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Aranwa to invest US$36.5 million in five new hotels till 2013

Over the next five years, Aranwa Hotels, Resorts & Spas will invest US$ 36.5 million in opening five new hotels in the southern Peruvian regions of Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and Ica, the company's operations vice president Gabriel Alvarez announced Thursday.
“The company aims to operate seven hotels in the next five years, all with a very marked health and spa concept which differs us from current market options,” he said.
Alvarez said that the company will build a five-star hotel in the city of Cusco, which will have 41 rooms and require an investment of eight million dollars.
Aranwa will also construct a four-star resort in the Block C of El Chaco – La Puntilla, Paracas (Ica), which would start operations in 2011.
In 2012, the hotel chain will focus on the remodeling and expansion of Casona Rickttes, located in the Andean city of Arequipa, where it will build its second five-star hotel with a nine-million-dollar investment.
Aranwa's 2012 plans also include the construction of a resort in the Coporaque town in Caylloma Province, near the Colca Valley. The 60-room project will require an investment of six million dollars.
The company's last project in this 2009-2013 period will be a 50-room resort in the Puno town of Juli, which will entail an investment of seven million dollars.
Aranwa Hotel Resort Spa is a hotel chain linked to Peruvian Tours Agency (PTA), a company belonging to Complejo Hospitalario San Pablo (CHSP).

Source: Andina

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Peru launches Lima-Huancayo rail route tourist guide

Peruvian tourism officials have published the country's first rail route guide called “Lima-Huancayo Train: Adventure through the Andes,” in a bid to promote train trips through Rimac and Mantaro Valleys in central Peru.
The document describes the 332-km trip between Lima and Huancayo, departing from Desamparados Train Station in the Historic Center of Lima to the heart of Huancayo in Junin region.
The guide also features the most important tourist attractions located across Mantaro Valley and its four surrounding provinces: Huancayo, Concepcion, Chupaca and Jauja.It also includes rail, geographic, tourist, historic and/or mining aspects, highlighting the most popular tourist spots such as stations, bridges, zigzags, tunnels and high-Andean zones, among other attractions.
The guide is available both in Spanish and English and can be purchased on the Lima-Huancayo tourist train or ordered by phone.The guide, produced by Koki Zelaya Alva and Jose Parra Pinto, was sponsored by the Municipality of Santiago de Surco, Ferrocarril Central Andino S.A, Railroad Development Corporation and other local organizations.

Source: Andina

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Amazon River on New 7 Wonders of Nature top list

The Amazon Rainforest/River has been included in the list of 28 official finalist candidates as the third phase of the New Seven Wonders of Nature online campaign is now underway.
Other natural wonders in this selection are Angel Falls, Bay of Fundy, Black Forest, Bu Tinah Shoals, Cliff of Moher, Dead Sea, El Yunque, Galapagos, Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeita Grotto, Jeju Island, Kilimanjaro, Komodo, Maldives, Masurian Lake District, Matterhorn/Cervino, Milford Sound, Mud Volcanoes, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Sundarbans, Table Mountain, Uluru, Vesuvius and Yushan.Competition organizers expect more than a billion people to participate in the online voting, which will continue into 2011, when the finalists by categories will be announced.A panel of experts chose the finalists among the 77 nominees that gained the most votes in an early round of polling. People had suggested 261 landmarks in countries all over the world.
The panel chaired by Federico Mayor, former chief of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, picked the finalists depending on geographical balance, diversity and the importance to human life.
The Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia, the Amazon jungle or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres), located within nine nations: Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana; Suriname and Venezuela.
The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.
The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total flow greater than the top ten rivers worldwide combined.
It accounts for approximately one-fifth of the total world river flow and has the biggest drainage basin on the planet. Not a single bridge crosses the Amazon.

Source Andina

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