Arequipa expects 350,000 visitors each year

The city of Arequipa in southern Peru would receive 350,000 tourists each year, according to the Tourism Plan 2015 designed by the provincial mayor, Simon Balbuena Marroquin, in coordination with several entities linked to the sector.
The initiative, to be run from July this year, seeks to promote several tourist attractions in national and international fairs.

The promotion of activities commemorating the anniversary of Arequipa in August is one of the first projects of the plan, as well as religious and traditional festivals held in the city throughout the year.
Balbuena expressed his confidence and said that about 200,000 tourists are expected to visit Arequipa this year, a 15 percent rise compared to figures registered last year.
"We are working to increase the annual number of tourists. We will promote tourism, in particularly in neighboring countries like Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Argentina".
The plan will finance the acquisition of 20 video cameras to be installed in strategic areas of the Historic Center, with the aim of providing security to tourists and the general public.
Peru's National Police, as well as security service in downtown streets will participate in the cameras installations.

Source: Andina

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Lake Titicaca tops wonders of nature ranking for fifth consecutive week

For the fifth consecutive week, Lake Titicaca tops Group F (lakes, rivers and waterfalls) of the seven wonders of nature campaign, according to the New 7 Wonders Foundation.
Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, is followed by the Niagara Falls and Danube River.

Lake Titicaca’s nomination is promoted in a joint effort by authorities of Peru and Bolivia.
On the other hand, the Amazon River and Rainforest ranks second in Group E, (forests, national parks and nature reserves), which is now led by Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines. The Colca Canyon located in Arequipa stands also second in Group D, which includes caves, rock formations and valleys.
A total of 261 qualified national and multinational nominees from 222 countries are participating in this second phase of the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign.
Voting for nominees with an Official Supporting Committee will continue until July 7, 2009.
The top 77 voted nominees, on a category group basis, will be considered by the N7W Panel of Experts for finalist shortlisting.
The shortlist of the selected 21 candidates will be announced on 21 July 2009, and will go forward to the Official Finalists stage of voting.
Voting for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, as chosen by popular vote from the 21 finalist candidates, will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011. The Official New 7 Wonders of Nature will be declared in 2011.

Source: Andina

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PeruRail likely to provide tourist services in Lake Titicaca in late 2010

PeruRail, a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru, plans to launch luxury tourist services in Lake Titicaca in Puno in late 2010 aboard the 89-year-old English ship Ollanta, the company’s general manager Armando Pareja reported.
He explained that this ship is part of the property transferred by the Empresa Nacional de Ferrocarriles (Enafer) to Ferrocarril Transadino (Fetransa), concessionaire of Peru's southern and southeastern railways, which in turn handed them over to PeruRail with the operation of the trains in this region.
"This is a highly prized project for PeruRail, which will require an investment of between six and eight million dollars only in the restoration process, and we plan to finish it by the end of 2010," Pareja said.
He commented that so far the ship is in a dry dock, after having gone through works to ensure its survivability and direction as well as the change in the metal plates.
"In the coming weeks, we will return the boat to the lake to verify and fix the propulsion and control systems so it can operate under optimal conditions," Pareja said.
He noted that the project’s most expensive phase is remodeling the cabins because the aim is to regain the image of the ship in its original conditions.
"It will have 45 cabins, some with private bath, as well as a wooden deck, among other places," Pareja explained.
He said that PeruRail’s intention is to make first the restoration of the main deck and public areas because they will offer in a first phase daily tours, but tourists will not stay overnight on the boat.
"If tourism is developed in the area as it is expected, then we move to the second phase of the project, which is to develop tour packages for three days and two nights," Pareja added.

Source: Andina

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Peru remains safe destination for tourism, Ministry says

Peru remains a safe destination for receptive tourism because AH1N1 flu in the country represents only isolated cases and does not imply a massive contagion, Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Araoz said.
“We expect foreign tourists continue coming to Peru, because safe tourism can be developed in this country as we have the required health and hygiene mechanisms,” she told Andina.
In that sense, she pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), in coordination with travel agencies, is working to provide the best information to the foreign markets.
“The goal is to explain to foreign people that Peru does not have any pandemic, because 25 cases of this virus are isolated,” she said.
She asked the media not to generate a media panic because most of AH1N1 cases are imported, in other words, these are people who have arrived from the United States, Mexico and Panama.
“Very few people have AH1N1 flu and there is no serious case; these are some cases like any regular flu,” she added.
News has been exaggerated in both national and international media, which has been affecting tourism worldwide.

Source: Andina

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Unesco considers including Peru's sacred city of Caral in World Heritage List

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) will consider including Peru’s sacred city of Caral, located at 207 km (128 miles) to the north of Lima, in its list of World Heritage Sites.

Caral, a large settlement in the Supe Valley in Barranca province (Lima), is one of the most ancient cities of the Americas and possibly of the entire world, and is a well-studied site of the Norte Chico civilization.
The World Heritage Committee will consider requests for the inscription of new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List when it meets for its 33rd session in Seville, Spain, from 22 to 30 June.
During this year’s session - to be chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO - 35 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention will present properties for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Three of those countries - Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Kyrgyzstan - have no properties inscribed on the World Heritage List to date.
Thirty new properties in total were submitted for inscription on the World Heritage List this year: 4 natural, 23 cultural and 3 mixed (i.e. both natural and cultural) properties, including 4 transnational nominations. In addition, 7 extensions to properties already listed have been proposed (see list). The Committee will also review the state of conservation of the 30 World Heritage properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger and may decide to add to that list new properties whose preservation requires special attention.
The List in Danger features sites which are threatened by a variety of problems such as pollution, urban development, poorly managed mass tourism, wars, and natural disasters, which have a negative impact on the outstanding values for which the sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List.
One of the properties on the List in Danger, the cultural landscape of Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley, will come under particular scrutiny as the Committee will decide whether to remove the property from the World Heritage List because of the building of a bridge in the heart of the landscape.
To date, the World Heritage List recognizes 878 properties of “outstanding universal value,” including 679 cultural, 174 natural and 25 mixed properties in 145 States Parties.
The Convention encourages international cooperation to safeguard the common heritage of humanity. With 186 States Parties, it is one of the most widely ratified international legal instruments.
When signing the Convention, States Parties commit to identifying sites for potential inscription and to preserving sites on the World Heritage List, as well as sites of national and regional importance, notably by providing an appropriate legal and regulatory framework.
The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of the 1972 Convention, comprises representatives of 21 countries, elected by the States Parties for up to six years.
Each year, the Committee adds new sites to the List. The sites are proposed by the States Parties. Applications are then reviewed by two advisory bodies: cultural sites by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and natural sites by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which inform the Committee of their recommendations.
The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ICCROM) provides expert advice on conservation and training in restoration techniques.
The World Heritage Committee also examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed sites and asks States Parties to take appropriate conservation and preservation measures when necessary.
The Committee supervises the disbursement of over $4 million annually from the World Heritage Fund, aimed, among other purposes, at emergency action, training of experts and encouraging technical cooperation. UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre is the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee.

Source: Andina

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Lake Titicaca continues to lead N7W of Nature contest

For the third consecutive week, Lake Titicaca continues to lead Group F (lakes, rivers and waterfalls) of the New Seven Wonders of Nature campaing, according to the latest ranking released on Monday by the contest organizers.

With less than two months left until the 21 finalists are announced, the New 7 Wonders Foundation noted that Titicaca, a nomination shared by Peru and Bolivia, beats competitors such as the U.S. Niagara Falls and Europe's second-longest river, Danube River.
On the other hand, the Amazon River and Rainforest remains second in Group E, (Forests, National Parks and Nature Reserves), which is now led by Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines.
Furthermore, the Colca Canyon located in Arequipa moved up one place to second in Group D, which includes caves, rock formations and valleys.
A total of 261 qualified national and multinational nominees from 222 countries are participating in this second phase of the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign.
Votes to nominate semifinalists will be cast until July 7 at

www.new7wonders.com. The top 77 nominees by group categories (the top 11 in each of the seven groups) will be eligible for consideration by the New7Wonders of Nature Panel of Experts.
The Panel of Experts will review these 77 nominees and choose from them the 21 Official Finalists, according to published criteria.
The selection will be announced on 21 July 2009, and the 21 Official Finalists will then enter the third and final phase to vote and choose the Official New7Wonders of Nature.

Tours in Puno ? Click here

Source: Andina

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Orient-Express to build five-star hotel in Cusco

After obtaining the municipal permits, Orient-Express Hotels Trains & Cruises announced it will start building its five-star hotel project in Las Nazarenas Convent in Cusco by August this year, with an investment of 14 million dollars. Project includes 56 luxury rooms.

In 2007, Orient Express obtained authorization from the Peruvian National Institute of Culture (INC) to start operations at both regional and national level, but it did not receive the authorization from the Municipality of Cusco.
Authorities were against the proposed construction of underground tunnels between Las Nazarenas Convent and Monasterio Hotel, both under concession of this chain.
According to the Monasterio Hotel's general manager Patricio Zucconi, this issue was solved in November 2008 when the company decided to cancel the construction of underground tunnels in the project, and thus obtained the necessary permits.
Looking for booking hotels in Cusco? Click here


Source: Andina

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Colca Valley tourism grew by 9% in Jan-May period

Tourist arrivals to Colca Valley in Arequipa increased by 9 percent during the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2008, the Head of Autonomous Authority of Colca (Autocolca) Jose Luis Talavera said Wednesday.
He said that over 48,000 visitors arrived to Colca Canyon from January to May 2009; 39,000 of whom were foreign tourists and 9,000 were nationals.

Talavera added that despite the international crisis, tourist arrivals to Colca have increased thanks to a series of promotional campaigns aimed at supporting this area in the New Seven Wonders of Nature online voting competition.As part of another promotional campaign, Talavera presented on Wednesday the 'traveling bus' equipped with 14 computers. This vehicle, provided by the National University of St. Augustin of Arequipa (UNSA), will tour different districts around Arequipa to encourage people to vote for Colca Canyon.
The Colca Canyon, located in the Arequipa province of Caylloma, moved up one place to second in Group D, which includes caves, rock formations and valleys.

Tours to the Colca Canyon, click here

Source: Andina

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Hotel chains reduce rates to promote domestic tourism

The hotel chains operating in Peru, are reducing their rates to promote domestic tourism in order to make up for the drop in the number of foreign tourists due to the global crisis' effects, the Peruvian Hotels Association (SHP) reported Monday.
“Rates were not affordable to domestic tourists, but thanks to this crisis the domestic tourism has been stimulated and now rates are becoming more accessible to locals,” said SHP General Manager Tibisay Monsalve.
She said the global financial crisis has led hotels to focus on the domestic tourism, with the same importance given to foreign and corporative tourists.According to Monsalve, most of the 18 SHP hotel company members participating in the 1st Hotel Workshop “The Best of Peru”, think that the first results of the meetings, held with travel agencies and tourist operators on the improvement in the hotel occupancy rate, will be materialized in the medium term.
Monsalve expressed her satisfaction with the participation of new travel agencies in this working meeting, which brought them into contact with different national and international hotel chains.
“Many of our members are not aware of the existence of these agencies, which, despite they are small, should not be underestimated. Important business deals are conducted in these small travel agencies”, she said.
For booking Hotels in Peru, click here.

Source: Andina

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Puno authorities launch Aymara tourism route

Authorities in the Andean region of Puno, southeastern Peru, has launched a tourism route aimed at becoming one of the most popular in the Altiplano area, which has Lake Titicaca as its main attraction.
Local tourism police chief Edgar Saavedra said that this route dubbed Aymara (an ancient culture that flourished in Puno) includes the towns of Acora, Chucuito and Plateria, among others near the border with Bolivia.

“This route was almost closed. Tourists used to take the Quechua route to visit Taquile and Los Uros Islands, but now they have other option,” he said.
He pointed out that visitors can arrive in Acora from the port of Amantani Island, and from there, they can take the road to enjoy community-based tourism or adventure tourism like riding a bike or a motorcycle.
“This route has areas such as Charcas, a beautiful white sand beach. In Acora and Plateria we can experience community based tourism, sharing traditional activities with local people,” he added.
“Peru is a tourism destination and Puno is not the exception. Tourism Police will provide security for both domestic and foreign tourists,” he said.
To see tours in Puno, click here

Source: Andina

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