Microentrepreneurs in Cusco in crisis due to lack of income

Hotels, restaurants and artisans of Cusco register low sales and, in some cases, these are nil. All as a result of the political and social crisis. Carlos Gonzáles, owner of the “Qolqas” hotel, Sergio Cardeña, owner of the “Uchucuta” restaurant and Angel Ayerbe, tour guide, as well as other businessmen, declared losses of more than 90% compared to 2022.

Uchucuta restaurant is located in Ollantaytambo. Until the beginning of January 2023, I worked with six collaborators, but now, the owner was forced to work with only one. “Due to the lack of entry to archaeological centers due to the strikes, many companies have already closed and sometimes only serve reservations. Others have reduced staff, there are days that we close at zero, there are five days that we do not have a single client. Because of the truce tomorrow, we will finally attend to 10,” said Sergio Cardeña.

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The humanitarian road passes have allowed Cardeña to maintain hope. He assures that the next two weeks will be crucial to get out of the crisis. “Let’s hope there is flexibility and that things return to normal, we don’t want to close, prices are increasing and we hope that by February the arrival of Latin American tourism will be possible,” she added.

According to the last report of the Collective of Associations of the Tourism sector of Cusco, hotels in the city have gone into partial paralysis, while in the provinces they have gone into total recession.
Cancellations have reached the month of May. Hotels in the city of Cusco stopped their activities between 70% and 80%, most formal companies have sent their employees on vacation, others did not renew contracts.

In the provinces the situation has worsened. The hotels have ceased their activities 100% and the layoffs were inevitable.

In the case of Carlos González’s Hotel Qolqas, decisions have been made to avoid layoffs. However, The funds that allow this company and its workers to be sustained would only last until March. “We have closed the hotel since the last week of January, since there are more than 95% cancellations between December and January. If things calm down we will open in March ”, he recounted.

Artisans like Rene Franco de Pisaq and entrepreneurs of natural products like Iris Kruska, cThey claimed to have had no income since the first week of January, the shortage of tourists has forced them to look for other trades. For small businessmen, the return to normality will not be enough, the losses are irreparable. The credits increased their default rate, they expect an articulated work with the State.