Tourism direct GDP (2024) | Tourism direct employment (2020) | Travel exports (2024) |
|---|---|---|
2.8% of total GDP (up 0.3 percentage points since 2023) | 2.2% of total employment (down 1.9 percentage points since 2019) | 51.4% of total service exports (down 4.2 percentage points since 2023) |
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026
National tourism strategy: Law 32392: New General Tourism Law
Responsible government agency: Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism
National tourism budget: PEN 491.5 million (2025)
Key tourism policy priorities and actions:
Updating the tourism regulatory framework – Implementing the New General Tourism Law which establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework to promote the sustainable, competitive, and inclusive development of the country's tourism sector.
Utilising innovation to enhance tourism competitiveness – Generating public value through the MINCETUR Lab which aims to enhance competitiveness and foster the adoption of innovative, multidisciplinary, and human-centred practices for tourism sector.
Driving social tourism and accessibility – Co-ordinating the design and implementation of social tourism initiatives including through the “Accessibility Guide: Tourism for All”.
Tourism is a key sector of the Peruvian economy, directly contributing PEN 31.1 billion in 2024, a 23.3% increase compared to 2023 and representing 2.8% of Peru's total GDP. Tourism also generated approximately 1.3 million jobs, both direct and indirect, in 2024 which remains 10% below 2019 levels.
In 2024, Peru received 3.3 million international overnight tourist arrivals. This represents a significant increase compared to international tourist arrivals in 2023, which were 2.5 million, although it is still 26% below 2019 levels. The main source markets were Chile (22%), the United States (19%), and Ecuador (9%).
As with inbound tourism, domestic tourism showed a sustained recovery after the pandemic in 2024, reaching 44.1 million overnight trips, almost 19% above 2023 levels. Domestic visitors remain 9% below 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism is the tourism sector’s lead political and administrative authority. Its role is to define, direct, execute and co-ordinate the country’s foreign trade and tourism policy in harmony with the general policy of Peru. The Vice Ministry of Tourism, part of the Ministry, oversees the General Directorate of Tourism Development Policies, responsible for implementing, evaluating and supervising tourism policy. The General Directorate also formulates and implements actions to improve the quality of tourism services, its environmental management, tourism facilitation, tourist protection, and the promotion of tourist awareness. The Vice Ministry of Tourism also oversees the General Directorates of Research and Studies on Tourism and Handicrafts, Tourism Strategy, Crafts, and Casino Games and Slot Machines.
The Ministry has two Specialised Advisory Bodies, the Tourism Advisory Committee and the National Council for Handicraft Development. The Tourism Training Centre and the Exports and the Tourism Promotion Board of Peru are also attached to the Ministry and operate Peru’s Commercial Offices Abroad.
Regional governments are responsible for formulating, approving and executing policies relating to the development of regional tourist activity, qualification of regional tourist service providers, and co-ordination with local governments on tourism activities. They also maintain and update directories of tourism service providers, tourism resources, and regional events calendars.
At the national level, the total budget for tourism in 2025 is PEN 491.5 million, which represents an increase from PEN 339.6 million in 2024. The budget was split into PEN 186.5 million granted to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, PEN 3.8 million for the Tourism Training Centre, and PEN 301.3 million to the Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Export and Tourism.
Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, 2026.
Peru have introduced a New General Tourism Law which declares tourism an activity of national interest and a priority policy for the State, recognising it as essential for employment, the economy, and environmental sustainability. The Law, adopted in 2025, establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework to promote the sustainable, competitive, and inclusive development of the country's tourism sector. The main aspects of the Law include:
Promotion of public investment.
Planning and management of tourism activity.
Incentives for economic recovery.
Promotion of community-based tourism.
Formalisation and safety in adventure tourism.
Positioning of gastronomic tourism.
Tourism governance.
The Tourism Law establishes plans for the regional and local level. Regional Strategic Tourism Plans identify regional tourism and establish priority actions in accordance with the objectives and guidelines set in the National Tourism Policy. The participatory process is led by the regional government, with participation from local governments, the private sector, academia, and civil society, and follows the “Guide for the Preparation of the Regional Strategic Tourism Plan" document which establishes guidelines, instructions, and recommendations for formulating these plans, which are currently set in all 25 regions.
Local Tourism Development Plans provide a planning and management instrument that guides the tourism, social, and economic development of a locality. They define guidelines and priorities through a participatory process among public and private actors, considering tourism potential, demand, and other key factors. The “Methodological Guide for the Preparation of the Local Tourism Development Plan” sets out guidelines, tools, and recommendations for strategic planning of the sector at the provincial and district level, ensuring coherence and consistency with national, sectoral, and territorial policy objectives.
Fostering collaborative spaces among key stakeholders in the tourism sector can help to drive innovation. The MINCETUR Lab, created in August 2024, is an innovation lab dedicated to generating public value through collaborative methodologies, aiming to enhance competitiveness and foster the adoption of innovative, multidisciplinary, and human-centred practices for tourism sector. The Lab promotes innovative solutions to enhance quality and competitiveness in the sector through practical, applicable projects focused on technological solutions, policy design, social interventions, and knowledge generation. The Lab led to the development of a new modality to support the early phases of tourism entrepreneurship in Peru (see box below).
The significant potential demand for tourism in Peru from people with disabilities, older adults, and individuals with reduced mobility, who often lack access to properly prepared tourism services, is well recognised. Peru has set the “Guidelines for the Development of Social Tourism in Peru,” which outline seven strategic lines of action, including: research and planning, design and development of accessible products, awareness and communication, capacity building, demand facilitation, institutionalisation and monitoring, and evaluation.
Peru has also published the technical document “Accessibility Guide: Tourism for All,” which provides accessibility recommendations for tourism service providers and site managers. This initiative aims to promote the creation and adaptation of accessible tourism experiences that encourage the participation of these groups in tourism activities, supporting their fundamental right to leisure, rest, and an improved quality of life.
One of the key challenges in the tourism sector is the scarcity of tourism ventures that incorporate technology at an early stage. While many new tourism services emerge in response to local opportunities, innovation and technological integration often appear later in the process or only in reaction to operational needs rather than being embedded in the original business concept.
The MINCETUR Lab, a public innovation laboratory, has designed and implemented a new modality within its national program “Turismo Emprende”, which expands the scope of the traditional grant scheme by addressing an earlier phase in the entrepreneurship lifecycle – the idea creation and business model design. This new approach expands the program’s scope and impact by incorporating intensive training, early-stage validation, and the application of emerging technologies into the creation of tourism ventures and aims to build entrepreneurial capacity from the ground up, ensuring that projects are more robust, market-aligned, and grounded in sustainability and innovation from the start.
The “Emprende Tec Turismo” pilot was carried out in Arequipa, a region selected for its strong innovation ecosystem and ongoing transformation into a Smart Tourism Destination. A national call for proposals was launched, targeting teams of 2 to 4 individuals with early-stage tourism business ideas. Out of 45 submissions, 22 teams were selected to participate in a six-week intensive training program led by three regional university incubators.
The training included mentoring, workshops on business development and sustainability, prototype creation, and hands-on sessions on applying emerging technologies in tourism. At the end of the program, 12 teams presented and defended their proposals to a panel of experts. Three ventures were declared eligible, each receiving up to PEN 25 000 (USD 7 000) in funding to implement their minimum viable product.