In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Elba Yañez, MICE Executive at Promperú.
What does the MICE segment mean for Promperú?
MICE is a very important industry in terms of meeting tourism, not only in Peru but in Latin America and the world. The industry is becoming increasingly stronger, with more congresses and incentives, and Peru is no exception. We have been working in the area of meeting tourism for more than 10 years and we have been somewhat affected by the pandemic, but we have become much stronger to move forward.
Today, approximately 3% of international tourists who come to Peru come for MICE purposes. At Promperú we are dedicated to promoting and attracting events and incentives, but also to training and professionalizing our value chain. Attracting high-impact events is something we have also been doing.
Have you had or will you have experience in large events?
We are going to host the Pan American Games in 2027 and we are looking to attract other sporting events for next year. We want large events, especially to promote industry and the qualities we have as a country. We are also looking for events related to trade, which will strengthen our country with everything we offer.
What markets are you targeting when we talk about MICE?
Our segmentation is based on eight markets: Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and also the USA, Canada and Spain. However, as a result of the Peru Travel Mart we have seen a lot of interest from other countries such as Ecuador, France and Costa Rica that would like to attract conventions, congresses and incentives to our country.
Which industries are important in this segment?
The pharmaceutical, automotive and cosmetics industries in general. The pharmaceutical business moves many medical events, the ideal is to also capture medical events with all their specialties.
What infrastructure do you have for events and what destinations do you target for holding them?
If we are talking about incentives and MICE in general, we have five destinations. Mainly Lima, the capital, which has a large number of first-class hotels, five stars, four stars, and many event halls. We also have the Lima Convention Center, with a capacity for more than 4,000 people. In Lima, there are many incentives and there is an important gastronomic offer.
Next comes Arequipa, located in the south of Peru. It is a mining city with a lot of experience in events of this type. Arequipa has established itself as a location for events and there you will find, for example, in the White City, a lot of cultural heritage of humanity, with experiences for incentives and a lot of gastronomy as well.
Then we have Paracas, which is another interesting option, much requested by Brazilians. It is located south of Lima, four hours by land. It is close to the sea, has a natural reserve and a lot of desert. There are oasis and dunes in that area. The only oasis here in Peru is Huacachina, which is beautiful. And there, for example, you can do incentives with large picnics in the desert with capacity for 100 or 120 people.
Then we have the Nazca Lines, and another one, Cusco, which we all know, but which offers much more than Machu Picchu. The city itself is full of archaeology, culture and mysticism. But it also has recreational and team building activities in the Sacred Valley, in a lagoon, and you can even play paddle tennis, yoga sessions or prepare pachamanca. Pachamanca is a type of food that is made underground and is cooked with the heat of the earth and stones, and that is an ancient tradition.
Do these destinations have the capacity to host different types of events?
Yes, they have the infrastructure. Typically, conferences have approximately 500 people, and for larger events, Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley or Arequipa would be ideal. But the larger the capacity and the request, the more we have to start looking at the rooms we have available.
In Cusco, for example, there is a convention center in the Sacred Valley that is new because it was created as a hospital for low-income children and now they have built some event rooms in front of it, the income from which helps the hospital. The Peruvian state has already held government events there.
As a last resort, I would like to mention Iquitos, which has luxury cruises on the Amazon River. These are very important, with a capacity of 30 cabins, and from there you can take yachts to the communities to carry out social work, social responsibility and interaction with communities.
How does PROMPERÚ promote the MICE segment for all these destinations?
We work in international fairs. We go to Imex in America, Imex Frankfurt, and we will also go to IBTM Americas and FIEXPO next year. And we also have business meetings that we do through our commercial offices in the main markets of interest. We go and visit, we do trade missions and training. This year we have already been in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, and we take advantage of the time after the fair to do a training activity.