FEATURE PERU & ECUADOR
rainforest is just a 45-minute flight from Quito which, along with bustling Guayaquil on the coast, is also the departure point for flights to the Galapagos Islands. Traditionally an expensive destination, cruise options in the Galapagos during the last year have been subject to heavy discounting and prices remain competitive. Land-based and specific diving itineraries are also catered for, each offering a variety of excursions exploring the Islands' rich and wonderful wildlife.
WHAT’S NEW Air connections to Peru are fast improving. Air Europa last year launched a twice-weekly service from London Gatwick via Madrid, while Air France launches a similar schedule via Paris this June and Iberia has added four flights a week between Madrid and Lima, increasing its weekly departures to 11. Quito Tourism has launched an online training programme with Travel Uni, featuring four modules about the city, the Andean region and further afield. See page 64 for more details. Quito’s new international airport is due
to open this year and, with a longer, more accessible runway, the government is targeting direct flights from key markets such as the UK. The Ecuadorian government has also awarded its biggest ever budget for tourism marketing in 2011, and a new campaign, Ecuador – Love Life, was launched late last year. Among tour operators marking the
100th anniversary of Hiram Bingham discovering Machu Picchu (July 24) are Journey Latin America, GAP Adventures and Western & Oriental.
Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Machu Picchu; rafting in Ecuador;, Orient Express' Hotel Monasterio; and Ecuadorian 'chagras' or cowboys.
The latter’s itinerary is valid throughout 2011 and visits Lima, Cusco, the Urubamba Valley and Machu Picchu, while JLA’s one-off tour will be led by author and film-maker Hugh Thomson. The two-week itinerary departs the UK on July 14 and is priced at £4,288 including all flights, transfers, excursions and four- star accommodation. GAP Adventures’ Inca Discovery tour
departs on July 18th and includes the four-day Inca Trail trek, arriving at Machu Picchu by sunrise on the anniversary of its discovery. Peru and Ecuador specialist
Metropolitan Touring, which opened an office in London last year, is set for the official launch of two new properties this summer – the 31-room Casona de San Miguel boutique hotel in the heart of Quito and the 22-room Mashpi Lodge in the Amazon rainforest. In Peru, Libertador Hotels will open
South America’s first Westin Hotel in alliance with Starwood Hotels. Located in the San Isidro district of capital city Lima, the 30-floor hotel is due to open this summer and will feature 300 rooms, two restaurants and a spa. The group opened two new hotels last year, the Tambo del Inka in the Sacred Valley and the Paracas Hotel on the Pacific coast, both of which are members of Starwood Hotels’ Luxury Collection. Red Mangrove Galapagos and Ecuador Lodges have opened the nine- guestroom Santa Cruz Divers Lodge in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz and the five- room Isabela Divers Lodge in Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island, taking its portfolio of properties to six. The Hotel Aranwa in Cusco, Peru, has
joined the Preferred Boutique group. The 43-room hotel is set in a 16th century colonial mansion and opened last
TOP SELLING TIPS... Machu Picchu and the
Galapagos Islands – two of Latin America's biggest tourism icons – can easily be combined in one itinerary
Avoid international
hotels in the cities and opt for boutique hotels in historic colonial buildings instead
Tourism infrastructure
is well developed in the region, making it an easy introduction to South America for first-timers
TOURISM TALK ELISABETH HAKIM SENIOR UK MARKETS COORDINATOR, PROMPERU “Over 50 per cent of UK visitors to Peru use a travel agent, so agents need to be confident
when selling Peru. We’re launching a UK version of our online training programme in June and we’ll be hosting more roadshows too. There has been a lot of new top-end product in the Sacred Valley in recent years – not just hotels, but experiences too. The majority of new developments have been in the south, but we’re taking steps in the north too.”
FREDDY EHLERS MINISTER OF TOURISM, ECUADOR “As part of the new tourism campaign, we’re planning to open an Ecuador store in London,
specialising in chocolate products – one of our most famous exports – but also featuring travel and tourism brochures and information about the country. Key sectors for promotion in 2011 are ecotourism, adventure and culture. This is all just the first step of a new era. There’s going to be a revolution in Ecuadorian tourism and we hope to become the capital of tourism for the Latin America region.”
Spring. It joins sister property Aranwa Sacred Valley and Lima’s Casa Andina Private Collection in the city’s Miraflores suburb as members of the wider Preferred Hotel Group. Hayes & Jarvis reports strong growth
in travel to South America towards the end of 2010, with combined passenger figures for Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile up 37 per cent year-on-year.
ANDY HOSKINS, BMI PUBLISHING LTD
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