The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) of Peru issued a statement this week, immediately after Manuel Merino was sworn in as the new President of the Latin American country. 

In it, the organization urged the reactivation of different sectors, including casinos and slot machines while demanding that the State decide on certain measures pending review in Congress, in order to plan and execute campaigns for the next few years.

In addition, according to Portal de Turismo, the organization said that the new President is aware of the need to make decisions regarding the sector, since it hasn’t been able to operate in the last eight months.

Canatur said: “We must complete phase 4 and reactivate the subsections of congresses, business fairs, casinos and slot machines quickly and safely in order to avoid more job losses, closure and bankruptcy.”

Furthermore, the Chamber called for the creation of a new law to change the current situation of the tourism sector, aiming to collect more revenue through new taxes, create more jobs and transform the financial situation to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

According to Canatur data shared by Parliamentarian Mario Francisco Zúñiga Martinez in the panel “Tourism in crisis in pandemic times” and shared by Radio Nacional, “650k jobs were lost in the tourism sector due to the pandemic, and around 50k companies, including hotels, restaurants and travel agencies, were seriously affected”.

Although the protocol to reactivate gambling operations in Peru received the green light in the last week of September, casinos still don’t have an exact date where they will be able to operate again. Once they get the approval, they will only be able to open with a 50% capacity.