Puno lost S/ 166 million in January

By: Zenaida Zea

The political crisis facing the country and the lack of a conciliatory attitude on the part of the government of President Dina Boluarte and Congress, are exacerbating the negative impacts on the economy of Puno. According to the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Puno, Francisco Aquise, only in the first month of the year, S/166 million have been lost.

The most affected are the tourism sector, aquaculture, services, trade and exports. In this last category, quinoa, the flagship product of Puno, and trout have stopped being exported. He affirms that receptive tourism is nil, especially on these dates when thousands of visitors arrived for the Candelaria festivities.

There are an average of 240 associated with the Puno Chamber of Commerce, among entrepreneurs of restaurants, hotels, tourism agencies, guides and other services, whose income has been seriously affected. Although some people travel via lake to Bolivia, according to Aquise they do not count as tourists.

78 thousand cancellations

The suspension of operations at the Inca Manco Cápac airport in Juliaca represents one of the largest economic losses in the region. Marco Ojeda Challco, head of the Regional Directorate of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Dircetur) of Punomaintains that 78 thousand arrivals were cancelled, those that were projected for the first two months of the year.

He explained that the tourism sector works based on projections, and these reservations were motivated by the festival of the Virgin of the Candelaria. There are about 90 travel agencies, the same number of lodgings and more than 300 tourist guides that have been left without income. Dircetur has worked on a contingency plan that has two central objectives: to recover the tourist image of Puno and to guarantee it as a safe destination.