FITPERU 2008

During CADE, Catalonian economist Xavier Sala i Martín was encouraging the people in the auditorium to be creative, but he also warned them that it was necessary to be realistic. The GNP per capita in Peru has just recently reached the same level that the country had in 1970. In this way, he recognized that the national economy has improved, while advising Peruvians to be very aware and prudent since this tendency might not continue in the long term.

At the same time, in Chiclayo, a town just 200 kms away, another Catalonian, Jaime Rull, presented his plan of action to transform the Lambayeque region and its main cities into a pole that attracts tourists. This plan integrates the citizens and all living things and helps them become a chimney-less engine for development, generating work, encouraging activities and distributing the wealth.

While Sala was asking for precaution, Rull – the Executive President of the International Tourism Fair – requested that people hop on the world train of tourism progress. According to the World Tourism Organization, OMT, tourism in the area will grow more than 14% in 2008. Furthermore, they say that the tendency will continue to increase, even beyond the year 2020.

Rull also added that Lambayeque and all of the Northern Amazon region has enormous potential, an infinite variety of tourism-related resources that are just waiting to be transformed into “products” that can be displayed in the national and international market. This is the main objective for the next edition of FITPERU 2008, which will take place from February 14 to 17 in the Museum of the Real Tombs of Sipán.

The regional government, the provincial governments and the private sector have all come to a clear consensus: they will work together so that Lambayeque may become a first class tourist destination. Over the next two and a half months, they will focus their attention on working on a plan to improve highways, the airport, infrastructure, urban regeneration, signage, safety, cleanliness, decoration, general services, information for tourists, citizen participation, professional formation as well as diverse actions whose purpose will be to improve the receptivity of sector professionals, the specialized press and visitors in general.