With the goal of sharing Peru’s multifaceted tourism opportunities with the Chinese market, the Peruvian Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PROMPERÚ) organized the inaugural Tourism Exchange. The event gave 26 Chinese tour operators the chance to meet with 43 Peruvian outfits, including hotels, trains and luxury cruises. The event led to potential business deals worth 104 million USD.
This event is part of the multi-pronged promotional campaign PROMPERÚ has rolled out this year to solidify Peru’s status as a favorite destination among potential Chinese tourists. The campaign’s communication strategy focuses on digital channels unique to the market, with five main angles: culture, modernity and luxury, nature, adventure and cuisine.
One of the main steps was to launch the www.perutravel.cn website, an online space developed exclusively for this Asian country, with content tailored to the demands and preferences of Chinese travelers.
In June of this year, it also launched PeruTravel, an official profile on the Chinese platform WeChat. The profile also has an e-learning component (CTA – China Tourism Academy), and so far, 900 travel agencies from China have successfully completed training. WeChat is China’s most popular instant messaging system, making it a perfect medium for communicating directly with end consumers.
“We see China as a market with enormous potential. Last year, visitors from China jumped more than 30%, a very significant increase. For that reason, our agency is making every effort to ensure this growth continues, to the benefit of all,” stated Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR), Eduardo Ferreyros, during the event’s closing ceremony.
Over 600 business meetings were held at the event, which took place on November 14. There were also presentations on the steps taken by PROMPERÚ to train Chinese agencies. This gave representatives from the Asian juggernaut a chance to take a closer look at the variety and richness of our destinations.
Another component of the tourism exchange was familiarization trips for Chinese travel agents, who got to experience the attractions of regions like Lima, Iquitos, Cusco, Arequipa or Ica firsthand.
Peru ranks fourth among Latin American countries in terms of Chinese tourist arrivals. In 2016, Peru welcomed a total of 25,648 visitors from China, a 33% increase over the same period in 2015.
