Entrepreneurs: the system with which tourism is managed is precarious

For private companies, in the Cusco region and the country there is a precarious and outdated system for tourism. This prevents it from being at the level of other tourist destinations worldwide. They claim that the problem has been there for more than 10 years.

The demand for competitive tourism for the imperial region was born in 2008, after the financial crisis. For businessmen, since that date there have been no improvements in the travel system. The president of the Ollantaytambo Chamber of Commerce and former representative of the union of tourism companies in the region, Carlos González, argues that the lack of tourism competitiveness in the region is reflected in the ways in which visitors must manage their arrival. He assures that neither private companies nor public entities have been able to optimize access, the only beneficiaries being companies that sell regional or national packages and that operate abroad.

“We have a 20th century system, in the world there are few destinations in which travelers use intermediaries for their trips. The operators, for example, is something on which Peru bases its competitiveness and nobody travels like that anymore in the world. Now everything is purchased online, without the need for unnecessary expenses that leave us with little income for true local businessmen,” said Gonzáles.

To this problem the Cusco Chamber of Commerce, adds the need to improve existing circuits. President John González explains that the region needs to improve the quality of service to visitors. He denounces that for more than 2 years, the circuits have not been optimized and that the signage in the archaeological parks is still precarious and needs to be updated and modernized because the current system is rustic.