Lima, which hosts the Latin American meetings show FIEXPO in June, is an up-and-coming international conference destination.
Lima is the capital and political, cultural and commercial centre of the Republic of Peru and is located in the central coastal part of the country, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Lima is responsible for more than two-thirds of Peru’s industrial production and the majority of its tertiary sector. It is a modern city but also a traditional place full of architectural jewels.
The city has a reputation for exquisite gastronomy, a decent hotel infrastructure (with more than 15 international chains). Its air connectivity is evidenced by 39 direct international flights.
As the principal entrance point of the country, Lima has developed an important tourism industry with many cultural attractions, including archeological centres, museums, art galleries, festivals, and great nightlife.
The metropolis claims to be the most visited of Latin America’s cities, and logged 5.11m visitors in 2014.
Add to this a general high standard of quality and service, and Lima has emerged as a destination for international conferences.
In December 2014 Lima hosted the COP 20 international climate conference, just one of the events that helped it step forward in the latest ICCA City rankings to No.35.
The city claims to be Latin America’s fourth highest ranking city for international meetings and the 64 ICCA qualifying events brought in US$220m for the Peruvian capital in 2014 and over 27,000 delegates, according to its convention bureau. A quarter of the conferences were organised for medical associations, a key sector for meetings.
The city surpassed New York, Mexico City and Bogota on the rankings and its meetings industry grew 15% last year.
Lima experienced a 7.7% drop in hotel occupancy to 65.7% (year-on-year to February 2016), but there was a double-digit lift in average daily rate (+12.6% to US$141) RevPAR moved up 3.9%.
A 7.8% increase in supply coupled with flat demand led to the lowest absolute occupancy level for a February in Lima since 2012, although ADR was the highest for a February in the market since 2009, according to figures from STR.
Convention Center
Lima Convention Center can host 10,000 people and is spread over 10,684sqm. It has four floors of auditoriums and 18 rooms of various sizes for flexible meeting usage. The international chain hotels in the city, include Westin and Sheraton, Marriott, Swissotel, Melia and Hilton.
The city also boasts 140 conference venues to choose from, all equipped with modern technology.
Over the past year Lima attracted international events, including:
• The 70th Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank.
• The 23rd Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High Authorities of Tourism of the Organisation of American States.
• The 49th General Meeting of the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations – CIAT
• The 21st International Conference of Iberoamerican Orthodontists.
• The 13th Iberoamerican Conference of the Vertebral Column.
A first stop for organisers is the Lima Convention Bureau, a non-profit association tasked with promoting the city for meetings, conventions, sports and incentive travel. The bureau embraces a range of associated members, including supplier companies such as leading hotels, airlines and services providers to the meetings industry.
Lima’s top 10 RESTAURANTS
1. Central
2. Malabar
3. Rafael
4. Astrid y Gastón
5. La Gloria
6. IK – Iván Kisic
7. La Mar
8. Maido
9. Symposium
10. Lima 27
