Peru on Saturday declared a state of emergency in its critical tourism industry, which has been crushed by COVID.
The country went from receiving 4.4 million foreign tourists in 2019 to 900,000 in 2020. In 2021, only 400,000 visited, according to official data.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism will approve the emergency plan within 15 days, including financial rescue measures and investment in tourism promotion.
Known for Machu Picchu and its varied cuisine, Peru’s economy plunged 11.12 percent in 2020 and was in recession until June 2021, but the blow was much greater in the tourism sector.
Peru in December began to suffer the third wave of the pandemic, but infections have decreased considerably in recent weeks.
With 33 million people, Peru officially has registered more than 3.5 million cases of coronavirus and more than 212,000 deaths.