Peru’s government is planning to invest 1.0 billion soles ($356 million) over the next 3 years in the country’s northern regions on infrastructure to develop tourism, Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros said.
Government tourism promotion agency PromPeru previously announced that it would start a marketing campaign in 2011 to promote tourism to the Moche Route, which includes sites in Lambayeque and La Libertad.
“We are promoting and working on the development of the northern route, the Moche route. We are going to invest in the next 3 years some 1.0 billion soles to generate the necessary infrastructure and provide incentives for the private sector to invest in hotels and restaurants,” state news agency Andina reported Ferreyros as saying.
One of the top attractions in the north is Chan Chan, which was the capital of the Chimu kingdom some 500 years ago. The city was the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas before it was overtaken by the Incas.
Although I am a citizen of the USA, my wife is a citizen of Peru from the Sullana, Piura, Trujillo and TamboGrande areas. I have driven our car on the Pan American Highway from Lima to Mancora and have driven to Tarapoto. The scenery is second to none I have seen anywhere and the people are wonderful, friendly and helpful. I enjoyed the local foods and the neighborliness of the peoples in all the areas which Beronica and I visited. But the infrastructure / highways and roads outside of Lima is very lacking, though passable with extreme care. In some areas the Pan Am Highway disappears within cities, with no road signs to give directions through the cities, and we had to hire taxis or call upon the policia to guide us through the cities and pick up the Pan Am Highway on the other side. This may not be a problem for local citizens but is impossible for travelling tourist. The roads between Trujillo and Tarapoto are extremely dangerous as you progress into the foot hills of the Andes Mountains, although it was an exciting adventure to drive there. I see a major need to make the Pan American Highway into a four lane divided highway equal to interstate highways found in the USA to stop the bus crashes and the roads in the mountain areas need major improvements for safety. A four lane divided highway and a rail line are needed between Piura and Iquitos to connect the Amazon River port to the Pacific Ocean for international trade improvements. Just wanted to add my two cents worth. Peru is a beautiful country, including the peoples.