In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Gabriela Mena, Director of Marketing and Sales of JW Marriott Lima and JW Marriott El Convento Cusco.
What are you coming to present at FITUR 2025?
The proposal we have come to offer is related to well-being. JW Marriott Lima is a 300-room remodeled hotel with 25 years of history. It is a milestone for Peru and specifically for Miraflores, which is a tourist area. The hotel is luxurious, has practically 90% of rooms with ocean views, has a spa, a health club and has that connection with health. It is the largest in the city, and, although it is 25 years old, the pandemic helped us to remodel it. We have given it a very nice touch; as soon as you arrive in the lobby you find a wonderful wall that emulates the Andes Mountains, and a lamp that emulates Moray in Cusco, which is an archaeological center in the city. It also has an artificial fireplace that is a single piece of marble with the colors of the Nazca desert. So, when the guest arrives, he does not just arrive at a hotel, but he takes a look at everything he is going to experience in Peru.
On the other hand, the JW Marriott El Convento Cusco property is a hotel where 45 million dollars were invested and which was a San Agustiniano convent from the 16th century. Therefore, it not only represents that religious era but also pre-Inca history. This is the only hotel in the city where pre-Inca, Inca, contemporary pre-Columbian and republican vestiges were found. And if we talk about well-being, it offers yoga experiences and has a spa. Cusco is an ancient city, beyond gastronomy there are activities that offer experience. The hotel is unique in terms of its room structure, and if we talk about experiences, it has an Inca wall that contains energy through the millennia.
Peru, as such, is a proposal to connect with the being and with the journey through the senses. It is the complete package, from gastronomy to relaxation and connection with that energy that you want to feel again. It is an ancient and historical country culturally speaking, and the people are wonderful.
How has all this been received by the professionals who came to FITUR?
Great, I think that now what passengers are looking for are experiences, they are no longer looking for a hotel just to stay, they want to feel good, comfortable, relaxed.
What are your main source markets?
The United States, Mexico and Brazil, and the one that is recovering the most is China, which in fact, in 2019 was our fourth most important country, and now it is already appearing in the top 5 again. Europe is among the emerging markets that we have seen that are recovering with countries such as Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.