Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru jumped 16 places to 86th in the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, published by the World Economic Forum, said today the associate director and senior economist of the institution, Irene Mia.

This year’s Report, under the theme Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability, places a particular focus on this issue, both through a reinforced environmental component of the Index used to measure travel & tourism (T&T) competitiveness and through topics covered by the analytical chapters.

The Report includes an analysis of the rankings of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI). It also features detailed profiles for the 130 economies covered, together with data tables for each indicator used in the Index’s computation.

According to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, Peru's competitiveness advantages are prevalence of foreign ownership, business impact of rules on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements.

Also, environmental treaty ratification, availability of seat kilometers, hotel rooms, Internet users, hotel price index, ease of hiring foreign labor, number of World Heritage natural sites, protected areas, number of international fairs and exhibitions, among others.

On the other hand, the report says Peru's disadvantages are focused on property rights, transparency of government policymaking, time required to start a business and stringency of environmental regualtion.

Also, business costs of terrorism and costs of crime and violence, reliability of police services, road traffic accidents, access to improved sanitation and improved drinking water, hospital beds, quality of air transport infrastructure, airport density, number of operating airlines.

Mia said that compared to Colombia, Perú offers better security to foreign visitors, while compared to Mexico it offers lower hotel and fuel prices.

“Notwithstanding, compared to Costa Rica or Brazil, Perú still has to strengthen security”, she added.

Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most conducive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008.

Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Canada and France complete the top-10 list.

News source: ANDINA