Incas del Peru

Posted by Nicholas Gill Nov 14, 2007

Lucho Hurtado is one of the most significant figures in Peruvian tourism today. He isn’t in Cusco and he isn’t even in Lima. He is in Huancayo in Peru’s Central Andes.

His tour company has single handedly revolutionized tourism in Central Peru and made a region with practically no tourist infrastructure become one of the most tourist friendly and fascinating places in the country.

Peru has dozens of major regions that all have fascinating sights, great hotels, and once in a lifetime tour opportunities, but most are centered around travels to Cusco and Machu Picchu, and to some extent the Amazon, Lake Titicaca, and Lima. The North Coast, Central Jungle, Northern Andes, and other locations see very few tourists, but slowly international visitors are beginning to look around the country for new locations after they come on their second or third trip to Peru.

Lucho and Incas del Peru have proven that with the right kind and focused effort, tourists will come. They have been instrumental in ethno tourism in Peru where guests can learn craft making from villagers in the Mantaro Valley, study Spanish and Quechua in homestays, and helping to get the world’s highest railway running again.