Huascaran National Park

Xola Consulting and Prom Peru have completed an adventure tourism development proposal for North and Central Peru, two regions relatively unfamiliar to travellers visiting the country. The comprehensive plan identifies three Hot Spot areas with strong potential for adventure tourism, and recommends specific tasks in product development, environmental sustainability, political action, and community collaboration to implement the plan and ensure its long-term success. A marketing theme was also proposed to unify the adventure tourism highlights in the three Hot Spot areas.

PromPeru, the agency responsible for marketing Peru tourism, wants to see the North and Central regions of the country play a larger role in the Peru’s tourism industry. With fewer than 5% of Peru’s visitors currently venturing into these regions PromPeru decided to help develop the nascent industry in these areas responsibly, encouraging community involvement and sustainable development at key sites.

Road to Chachapoyas

They hired Xola Consulting to support them in creating a sustainable adventure tourism plan to market and develop the North and Central areas for responsible travelers, mindful to protect their environmental assets and preserve their authentic, local appeal.

Between May and June 2008, Prom Peru and Xola Consulting used Xola’s proprietary Adventure Tourism Development Index approach to identify three Hot Spots areas: Trujillo, Chachapoyas, Huaraz. These Hotspots were selected for their mix of resources to appeal to adventure travelers – each has a compelling mix of natural, cultural, and adventure sporting resources. Additionally, these Hotspots were found to have a good base level of infrastructure and community support for tourism development.

Prom Peru and Xola recommended detailed adventure tourism itineraries for each area, and proposed a unifying marketing theme to promote them called “Dig Deeper – Travel the Pre-Incan Footsteps of the Moche.”

Xola also offered guidance as how to engage policymakers and the private sector to collaboratively develop new tourism products in a sustainable manner, ensure local communities are involved and educated, and safeguard the natural and cultural resources on which a healthy tourism market depends. Suggestions for initiatives to extend the tourist reach beyond Machu Picchu, and to differentiate Peru from other destinations competing for culture and nature travel enthusiasts were provided. These plans will support Peru in becoming known as one of the world’s top destinations for sustainable travel.