Peru is encouraging Australian travel advisors to look beyond Machu Picchu and sell longer, more immersive itineraries, with increased air capacity and growing interest opening opportunities to explore more of the country.
That was a key message from a PROMPERÚ travel advisor breakfast held at Green Moustache in North Sydney, where representatives from Adventure World, G Adventures, Intrepid Travel and LATAM Airlines discussed how advisors can broaden the way they sell Peru.
Soledad Campos de Parry, PROMPERÚ’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand, said there was an opportunity for advisors to introduce clients to a much broader range of Peruvian experiences.
“Australian travellers may know Peru for its icons, but there is so much more to discover across the country,” Campos de Parry said.
“Through events like this, we want to give travel advisors the knowledge and inspiration to introduce their clients to Peru’s lesser-known destinations and experiences, and encourage them to stay longer, explore further and discover a different side of the country.”
Campos de Parry also told attendees that arrivals were growing by more than 20 per cent compared with last year, while highlighting Peru’s combination of adventure, nature, culture, gastronomy and premium experiences.
Moderated by Gate 7’s Sandrine Le Gaillard, the panel featured Adventure World National Accounts Manager Andrea Morgan, G Adventures Business Development Manager Maria Brufatto, Intrepid Travel Key Partnerships Manager Nicola McKenzie and LATAM Airlines Regional Director, APAC Alberto Chico Garcia.
While Machu Picchu remains the major drawcard, the panel identified considerable scope for advisors to extend itineraries through the Amazon, Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa and northern Peru.
Morgan said Adventure World was seeing growing interest in Peru’s natural environment, wellness experiences and eco-lodges, with enquiries that might begin as two or three-week trips sometimes developing into four or five-week itineraries.
She also highlighted luxury rail journeys linking Cusco with Puno and Lake Titicaca and onward to Arequipa as an opportunity to experience more of the Peruvian Andes.
L to R: Alberto Chico Garcia, Andrea Morgan, Soledad Campos de Parry, Nicola McKenzie, Maria Brufatto & Sandrine Le Gaillard
Brufatto pointed advisors towards northern Peru, including Chachapoyas and the pre-Columbian cultures around Trujillo, while Garcia nominated Arequipa, its volcanoes and access to Colca Canyon and its condors as an area deserving greater attention from Australians.
Adventure was another recurring theme, although McKenzie said advisors shouldn’t assume adventure means strenuous trekking.
“Adventure to each is each to their own,” she said, noting that for some travellers simply visiting a new country, trying unfamiliar food or sampling a pisco sour could be an adventure.
Brufatto highlighted the Peruvian Amazon, with G Adventures offering experiences incorporating river journeys, jungle excursions and caiman-spotting cruises.
Community-based tourism was also identified as an important part of Peru’s appeal.
McKenzie highlighted an Intrepid-supported café in the Sacred Valley providing employment opportunities for single mothers, while Brufatto spoke about G Adventures’ work with a women’s cooperative in the region, where tourism has helped create economic opportunities and improve living conditions.
Luxury, meanwhile, increasingly extends beyond conventional five-star hotels. Morgan highlighted boutique lodges, eco-properties and luxury rail, while Brufatto pointed to G Adventures’ move into more premium Peru product, including Tambo del Inka in the Sacred Valley.
McKenzie said luxury could equally mean access to an unusual experience, citing Intrepid’s new Peru Women’s Expedition, which includes a day led by a female shaman.
Accessibility was another message for advisors, particularly for clients who assume seeing Machu Picchu requires trekking the Inca Trail. McKenzie said itineraries could be designed around different ages and physical capabilities.
Helping make broader itineraries possible is LATAM’s increased Australian capacity.
Garcia said 2026 represents the airline’s highest-ever capacity from Australia, with LATAM operating daily from both Sydney and Melbourne for the first time.
Peru remains LATAM’s number one South American destination from Australia, with eight flights a day between Santiago and Lima, daily Santiago-Cusco services and more than 20 destinations served within Peru.
“Demand is there for the whole of South America, but obviously the number one destination for us is still Peru,” Garcia said.
Asked for one experience advisors should encourage clients to add to a Peru itinerary, Morgan chose the Amazon, while Brufatto and McKenzie both nominated the Sacred Valley for its opportunities to connect with local communities.
Garcia’s recommendation was simpler: find a pisco sour and relax.
The morning concluded with a destination quiz, with Gwyneth Liu of AGL Travel winning two return LATAM Economy Class flights from Sydney to Lima. Karena Rustia of Elevate Travel and Alexandra Dunlop of Wentworth Travel each won a place on G Adventures’ Peru’s Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu by Train, while Krystal Brazel of Everything Travel won a place on Intrepid’s Inca Trail Express. Doris Salazar of TravelTours won an Adventure World Peruvian gift hamper.
