Foreign tourist arrivals in Peru likely increased 10 percent in 2012 and are seen growing 8 percent this year, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) said Monday.
Deputy Minister of Tourism Claudia Cornejo said that the country saw strong growth in tourist arrivals from Asian countries, which rose between 15 and 16 percent.
The countries with the highest growth rates were Japan (29 percent), Thailand (28 percent), India (20 percent), and Republic of Korea and Taiwan (10 percent) respectively.
"Tourist arrivals from Latin America have also shown an increase and we want them to continue growing, especially from Brazil," Cornejo told Andina news agency.
She added that "we have seen interesting growth rates from Colombia (29 percent), Bolivia (15 percent), Ecuador (10 percent) and Chile (9 percent)."
According to Cornejo, these preliminary figures reflect the efforts being made by Peruvian authorities, from President Ollanta Humala and Mincetur to tourism officials who promote the country abroad.
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