Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the stoppage of the movement of people globally, a situation that especially affected tourism as an economic activity. This article addresses the impact of the closure of the Peruvian-Chilean border during the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel and gastronomic sector of Tacna. Through a qualitative methodology that included a bibliographic review, economic data analysis, and semi-structured interviews with hotel and restaurant owners and managers, we investigated the problems they had to face during the pandemic and the strategies to overcome them. The findings indicate that until March 2020 both items experienced strong growth within the framework of cross-border practices from Chileans to Tacna, within which enjoying Peruvian food was one of the main attractions. The pandemic forced small hotels and restaurants to deploy strategies such as layoffs and the provision of family labor to overcome the crisis and convert to delivery food. The largest and most formalized companies accessed subsidies and support from the state and in other cases, the reconversion was hand in hand with agreements with mining companies to house workers while the health emergency lasted. © (2024), (Universidad de Tarapaca). All rights reserved.