Peru Looks to Luxury & Gastronomy to Rebuild Canadian Visitor Numbers

If variety is the spice of life, Peru is one very tasty stew.

The South American nation is home to 34 million people, including 55 distinct indigenous groups who speak 47 languages. Over the country’s long history, many others have arrived – the conquering Spanish, of course, followed by other Europeans, Africans, British, Chinese, Japanese and more recently Koreans and East Indians.

Peru is celebrated as one of the 10 most biodiverse countries in the world. While the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest covers 60% of the land, the nation is home to 28 of the 32 world climate zones, and 84 out of 117 life zones. It also boasts 3,000 kilometres of coastline. By road, visitors can climb from sea level to 4,000 metres above in three hours.

“Our diversity makes us a special country populated by very different people, eating different foods, wearing different costumes and speaking different languages,” said Jaime Cardenas, Director and Senior Trade Commissioner for PromPeru in Canada. 

Travel Market Report Canada dropped by the PromPeru office on Toronto’s Bay Street to meet with Cardenas, who is tasked with promoting Canadian leisure tourism to his home country. Outside the building, snow is piled high on Toronto’s streets after a double-dose of blizzard, and the Peruvian who originally trained as a mechanical engineer muses on how much Canadians love beaches and warm weather.

“We have some very good beaches in the north,” Cardenas said, “but the sand isn’t as white and water isn’t as warm as the Caribbean. And it’s a long flight for a beach. But Canadians also love adventure, and we have a lot to offer, including hiking, biking, horseback riding, kayaking, mountain climbing and rafting.” 

With an office in Canada since 1995, PromPeru has partnered with small group adventure travel pioneers G Adventures for decades now, and also works closely with other small group tour operators including Intrepid, Exoticca, Wingbuddy and Kensington Tours. 

Peak Canadian traffic to Peru was 95,000 in 2019. But since Air Canada dropped passenger service in January 2023, it has been a struggle to come close to that figure. 

A big boost came in December, 2023, when Air Transat launched flights to Lima. That new service helped boost Canadian numbers by 60% in 2024, to just under 75,000. Transat offers air and hotel packages and guided tours in addition to flights.

“Transat has made a big contribution in the past year,” said Cardenas. “It would be excellent to have WestJet flying a west coast route, even with one stop, likely in Mexico. We keep trying to generate more lift, but there are other one-stop options that are not too bad.”

Cardenas has been closely watching travel trends, and sees opportunity in higher-end adventure travel, like that catered to by Kensington Tours or the G Adventures Geluxe product. “There’s quite an interesting market for bespoke tourism to Peru,” Cardenas said. 

Luxury tours are available to the classic Peruvians destinations of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, but also around Cusco and in the Amazon rainforest. The luxury market is also driven by food culture, and Peru has that aplenty, especially in Lima, which has become one of culinary travel’s hottest destinations. 

In 2004, the Peruvian government launched the ‘Gastronomy Project’ to promote the country’s cuisine traditions and stimulate the growth of the restaurant industry. The initiative has been so successful that in 2023, Lima’s Central Restaurant was named the number one restaurant in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It is the first in South America to earn that honour.

 “In theory, we can grow anything in the world, because we are so blessed by nature,” said Cardenas. “And when you combine 3,000 years of history with all the cultures that have come later, Peruvian cuisine has amazing richness and fusion of flavours.”

For advisors who want to learn more about the pleasures of Peru,  the Peru Agent website and associated Peru Agent App come complete with three foundation chapters of training to earn a diploma, along with specialization chapters, booking rewards, ready-to-use marketing collateral, insider tips and more. Advisors can earn 4 ACTA CTC Credits for completing the course. You can also download a wide range of Peru brochures here.

Cardenas says PromPeru is planning training sessions for travel advisors and B2B meetings with tour operators across Canada in May, with stops in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Quebec and Halifax. Stay tuned for more details when dates are released.