LIMA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops in Peru are preparing for a surge in visitors as Pope Leo arrives on Wednesday in thecountry that he once called home.
Around 850,000 domestic travelers are expected to see the pope on his six-day visit to Peru, which will include stopsin Lima, Cusco,Pucallpa and Chiclayo, a city whereLeo previously served as bishop. Another 50,000 international visitors are also expected, said Peru's trade and tourism minister Rogers Valencia, adding that flights were fully booked and tourism infrastructure ready.
Before becoming head of the Catholic Church, US-born Robert Prevost spent years in Peru as a missionary. His ascent to the papacy has been a big boost for Peru, where religious tourism is newer than in other countries in the region such as Mexico, which attracts roughly 20 million such tourists each year, according to the World Religious Tourism Network.
A government-promoted tourism route known as the "Paths of Pope Leo XIV" that traces places, including remote villages, where Leo carried out pastoral work along Peru's northern coast hasalready drawn more than one million visitors since his election to the papacy in May 2025. The routegenerated 450 million soles ($125 million) in its first year, according tostate agency PromPerú.
In Lima's Gamarra shopping district, clothing maker Victoria Quiñones said she expected a threefold increase in workduring October and November as demand swells for pope-themed T-shirts and souvenirs.
"It will be the best campaign of the year," saidQuiñones. She said she wasalready running low on fabric for her designs, which include prints of Leo eating famous Peruvian dishes.
At Peru's largest women's prison, inmates are making velvet dolls with the pope's image to sell, while bakers in Chiclayo have crafted pope-shaped breads and a giant statue of Leo was unveiledin the port city of Callao.
More than two million people are expected to attend Masses held in Lima and Chiclayo during Leo's visit, part of a tour that has alsoincluded stops in Uruguay and Argentina that attracted record crowds.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Leila Miller. Editing by Lucinda Elliott, Cassandra Garrison and Rosalba O'Brien)
