Lima capital of Peru deserted. Sunset from the roof top of my hotel.
Busy Lima, Miraflores, empty and deserted.
I have been in Peru since the middle of March and have been present during the worse period of the Pandemic, Covid 19 in Peru. We are now in July and Peru economically is now returning to normality, there have been four phases in which the government has been re introducing different parts of the economy back into the system. We are just waiting for the last phase which is number 4, this will be at the end of July. The government began in with phase 1 in May, so it’s been happening over the last two months.
Peru is by no means is over the Pandemic, the numbers of infected continue to increase as well as the deaths, but according to the government it is slowing down. Frankly I am not sure about that, but anyway the other problem is the economy and of course the employment. Many people are now out of work, the government has allowed people to access their pensions and government savings, which normally people would have no access to until they retire. There have been some small money handouts, but nothing on the scale that you have in England and Europe. It’s tragic that money has been taken out of people’s future pensions, but Peru is a country not used to handing out money to the people. The other problem has been that seventy percent of the economy is informal, i.e. no taxes paid, so this huge group has suffered. These are mostly people with small businesses for example who sell on the streets, or in shops etc, this is another reason why Peru had to re activate the economy as people were going hungry, no money.
Peru is not going to return to normality overnight, the poverty percentage due to the Pandemic has increased from about fifteen percent to thirty percent, it is terrible really that so many people are now suffering. This is a country which is poor, very class orientated, with a small rich sector which control everything, a middle class which fluctuates according to the economy, a very large working class and finally an impoverished portion who can barely survive. The country has a National Hospital service, but very underfunded and at this moment the government is investing to try and cope with the sheer numbers of people needing to utilise its service. In fact, it has become so stretched that the private hospital sector has been forced to provide a free service to the population if they have the virus.
None of this destroys my belief in Peru as a tourist destination, its such a beautiful place, often think of it as the Garden of Eden. It has everything, the coast, the desert, the mountains, the jungle, along with many wonders and ancient civilizations all who have left their foot print behind and ready to be discovered. Your visit to this wonderful country and its people will help so much and Tourism represents a huge part of the Peruvian Economy
Put Peru on your future agenda and even you can combine other countries within the same continent, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil, all have frontiers with this great destination. We have just published a wide range of economical programs for 2021, they are called SEAT IN COACH, where you can join to a departure each month, all you need to do is pay your deposit and its guaranteed. They ae group departures with a max size of 12 and a minimum of 2, there are thirteen different programs for you to choose from, covering Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. We have also published two fixed departures, Peru Magic in 21st May 2021 and Peru Explorer in 21st September, they both will be guided by Stuart Wicks owner of Travel Peru, who has lived and worked in Peru for more than twenty years.
Check it out and book your itinerary, see you soon, Chao!……