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Peru's Tourism Minister says 'NO' to Machu Picchu price hike

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Araoz: They are going to scare tourists away from Peru

© LIP

(LivinginPeru) -- Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism said that foreign tourists will not pay increased ticket prices to enter the Incan sanctuary Machu Picchu.

"We are not going to increase prices this year. This was an announcement made by the regional president of Cuzco who did not back it up with any technical merit, or market studies. As a matter of fact, this announcement has frightened tourists, investors, and those who work in the tourism industry," stated Mercedes Araoz, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism.

Just last month, Cuzco authorities suggested increasing the current US$40 entry price to US$100.

"If they (foreign tourists) currently spend up to US$500 on lodging and transportation to get to the Incan sanctuary, then you can see that
tourists are capable of paying more than US$40," stated Hugo Gonzalez Sayan, President of the Cuzco Region.

Araoz attacked the proposal, stating that it would have negative effects on Peru's growing tourism industry.

She voiced her concern over certain regional authorities who seemingly want to exploit tourists rather then welcome them with open arms.

"They are going to scare tourists away from Peru," sustained Araoz.

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# Jeannette Moreno French says :
22 March, 2007 [ 10:30 ]

I agree with Araoz's thought "They are going to scare tourists away from Peru".

I wish to visit, learn and explore not feel as though I am being exploited just because I'm from a different country. I visited Machu Picchu once. I saved my money for some time to be able to do so. I want to go again several times. I know that I didn't get to see everything there.

Raising the price to $100 for a site that requires almost no maintenance only makes me feel as though the authorities involved are trying to get as much money out of visitors as possible. It doesn't leave a person with a good feeling about the location nor the people of the area.

To say that a visitor has the money so they should give more is greedy. Please don't give the world this impression of Peruvians.

If the price is raised less people will visit, if the price remains semi-affordable then more people will visit, which will increase your revenue.

Please give the world the message that you welcome them and wish to share your treasures with them, not want to grab as much money out of them as you can.

Be proud of what you have. Don't cheapen it by being money hungry.

Thank you for you time,

Jeannette Moreno French

# Wolfgang says :
22 March, 2007 [ 12:31 ]

AS OTHERS SEE PERU

When I opened LIP's latest e-mail to write this note (see below), I was pleased to find the information in "Peru's Tourism Minister says "NO" to Machu Picchu price hike" (and Jeanette's comment), even though I - as an "inmigrante indefinido"- would probably not personally be affected by the price hike as this appears to apply "only" to "foreign" foreigners (not resident foreigners).

Only too often, Peru's officials and most representatives of the private tourism sector don't understand what the country can offer and, even more surprisingly, don't have a clue about what people from abroad - some 6 billion potential tourists - think about what Peru can offer.

1. A good example is the recent "World Economic Forum's First Ever Tra-vel & Tourism Competetive Report" (www.weforum.org) of 1 March 2007 (I assure the readers of LIP that the report is in English). I don't think that we can question the seriousness of the WEF; the facts about, and the evaluation of, Peru's international competetiveness are likely to dis-appoint local officials, most of the press and the population in general.

Out of 124 countries, Peru's rank is 81. Virtually all other important, and many much smaller, Latin American countries rank higher. It is no surprise that Costa Rica (rank 41), Chile (45) and Mexico (49) are con-sidered the most competetive Latin American countries. But a total of 6 other Latin American countries also rank higher than Peru!

Peru is found especially - but not only - wanting and weak in "safety & security", "health & hygiene" and "transport infrastructure" (see other details in the report). Obviously, these are perceptions of what many here consider "rich foreigners" (see Jeanette's comment), but these are the people Peru wants to attract.

2. To compensate for the disappointing news contained in the WEF report, I would like to mention another publication (now only for those readers who know at least basic Spanish): Condé Nast Traveler's "Perú: El País de las Maravillas" (my apologies to the publishers of LIP), No. 43 of the Spanish edition published in Madrid (Spain) a couple of months ago (I bought my copy in Miraflores). Although this magazine suffers from some minor factual inaccuracies, it is excellent and much better than many ambitious travel guides, though not much cheaper.

The Foreign Trade & Tourism Ministry may even consider the title (see above) as a replacement for slogans ("brand" Peru - "marca Perú) used in present promotions by Promperú and others (e.g. "El país de los In-kas"), if the publisher(s) agree(s). Unlike the WEF report, this publica-tion must have been written by unashamed admirors of Peru. It also includes excellent illustrations.

I am not aware that it has been translated into English and published elsewhere. However, an English translation would most likely help Peru to improve its reputation abroad and its competetiveness, inspite of the WEF report.

Wolfgang Glüschke

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