Tourism in Puno: A Promise for the Future?
Tourists ride on a traditional boat from Los Uros.
The country of Peru as a whole has a successful, thriving tourism industry, due to its richly diverse cultures and geography.
Much of this tourism is concentrated in the major cities of Lima, Cuzco, and Arequipa, but Puno has also had a modest tourism industry for decades. In an effort to foster economic development, many in Puno, especially the college students with whom I interacted on a daily basis, have begun to look to tourism as the key to growth. It is not unreasonable to believe that tourism will bring economic growth; in fact, tourism is the third largest economy in the world overall, and rises to the second largest when specifically considering the factors of job creation and foreign investment (Lozano-Oyola et al.). Furthermore, for Puno, the popular destinations of Cuzco and Machu Picchu provide hopeful models of success, as they share the cultural and historical background of the region and the connection to the Inca Empire.
However, there are obstacles that have impeded the growth of tourism in Puno. As Smith and Hurt write, “Puno will not be mistaken for one of South America’s most beautiful cities” (20). Lima, Cuzco and Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru lying about six hours south of Puno, boast colonial architecture and attractive parks and gardens. Most of the buildings in Puno, however, are a monotonous mud color, exacerbated by graffiti. Furthermore, safety is a concern for some. A maximum security prison, home to some of the country’s most dangerous criminals including members of the terrorist group “Sendero Luminoso,” is located near the city. Because of its proximity to Bolivia, Puno also has attracted drug and contraband (especially gasoline) smugglers (Smith and Hurt 20).
Nevertheless, in recent years, Puno has invested more money into the tourism industry in the hopes to bring economic development to the region (Smith and Hurt 20). One of the principle downtown streets, Calle Lima, is filled with shops of artesanía, restaurants, night clubs, tour agencies, and even a small casino. Hotels and hostels are located throughout the city as well. On any given day, one is bound to see a few gringos walking down Calle Lima or around the Plaza de Armas.
At the Pastoral, many of the students who came to our English classes studied tourism and specifically expressed that tourism motivated their desire to learn English. Even students who did not come to classes on a regular basis visited Elizabeth and I in order to talk about our impressions of Puno, what we had seen, and what activities we had done. On one occasion, two girls studying tourism interviewed us for a project. I was constantly moved by the dedication these students had to developing a thriving tourism business, and I believe that under their leadership, tourism will definitely be able to grow in Puno.
A five-star hotel sits on a small island off the shore, overlooking both the lake and the the mainland.
The attraction of tourism to Puno is two-fold; it is nature-based, due to Lake Titicaca and the Andes mountains. It is also culturally based, due to the indigenous traditions, folklore, and Inca history and archaeological ruins. The altiplano, or Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia, are home to Quechua and Aymara speaking indigenous descendants from the Inca and pre-Inca cultures.
The cultural tourism that Puno offers involves first-hand experiences and interactions with the indigenous groups that inhabit the region, especially the Titicaca islands of Los Uros, Amantani, and Taquile, which comprise the main tourist circuit; most agencies offer an overnight excursion that brings visitors to all three islands, including a stay with a “host family” on Amantani island. Tourism to the islands is regulated and organized by committees that are comprised of citizens of the islands, making it a community-based model for tourism.
However, the development benefits that the people of Puno stand to gain by participating in tourism ventures remain unproven and uncertain. Write O’Hare and Barrett, “The effectiveness of tourism in reducing regional disparities in wealth is thought to be negligible in Third World countries,” (O'Hare and Barrett 10) and that tourism might even exacerbate inequalities. This is due to the fact that clearly “favored” locations tend to arise, which tourists will often bypass other places for; in the instance of Peru, Lima and Cuzco dominate the market (O'Hare and Barrett 12), meaning that their economies continue to grow while Puno's economy remains stagnant, increasing the inequality between the two. Furthermore, because Puno is located in one of the poorer regions of the country, it is unable to invest as much money to advertise and promote tourism (O'Hare and Barrett 11), making it difficult to attract visitors and expand the industry.
The cultural tourism that Puno offers involves first-hand experiences and interactions with the indigenous groups that inhabit the region, especially the Titicaca islands of Los Uros, Amantani, and Taquile, which comprise the main tourist circuit; most agencies offer an overnight excursion that brings visitors to all three islands, including a stay with a “host family” on Amantani island. Tourism to the islands is regulated and organized by committees that are comprised of citizens of the islands, making it a community-based model for tourism.
However, the development benefits that the people of Puno stand to gain by participating in tourism ventures remain unproven and uncertain. Write O’Hare and Barrett, “The effectiveness of tourism in reducing regional disparities in wealth is thought to be negligible in Third World countries,” (O'Hare and Barrett 10) and that tourism might even exacerbate inequalities. This is due to the fact that clearly “favored” locations tend to arise, which tourists will often bypass other places for; in the instance of Peru, Lima and Cuzco dominate the market (O'Hare and Barrett 12), meaning that their economies continue to grow while Puno's economy remains stagnant, increasing the inequality between the two. Furthermore, because Puno is located in one of the poorer regions of the country, it is unable to invest as much money to advertise and promote tourism (O'Hare and Barrett 11), making it difficult to attract visitors and expand the industry.