Peru: Increasing Machu Picchu's visitor capacity is assessed

Photo: ANDINA/Percy Hurtado Santillán

12:22 | Cusco (Cusco region), Dec. 1.

The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, located in Urubamba province (Cusco region), will receive 5,600 tourists per day from the year 2024, by agreement of Machu Picchu Management Unit (UGM) members who in recent months had sought to increase visits to Peru's most famous landmark.

This is a "dynamic capacity" that increases visits from 4,044 visits (Ministerial Resolution No. 000255-2023-MC in force until December 31, 2023) to 5,600 visitors per day, which is due to a recent technical capacity study and the demand to get to know this world wonder.

The approval at the UGM was agreed upon following the proposal presented at the Fifth Ordinary Session of the UGM Steering Committee, before heads of the Foreign Trade-Tourism, Culture, and Environment Ministries, as well as of Cusco Region Government, the Municipality of Machu Picchu Town, and representatives linked to this matter.

This agreement must be officialized so that Machu Picchu will receive more visitors per day starting next year.

Cusco Region Governor Werner Salcedo stated that it is necessary to make decisions in favor of the Machu Picchu population and visitors so as to strengthen the economic dynamics in this area, with responsible and sustainable tourism, thus preventing possible social conflicts.

In this regard, Foreign Trade-Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Mathews indicated that the Executive Branch's wish is to consolidate tourism in Cusco; therefore, preservation and conservation will be pillars for this purpose.

Until November, the proposed increase was a matter of evaluation, even up to a maximum of 5,940, according to the "Cultural Site Research and Management, under the Direction of Douglas Comer" study conducted in 2015; however, it was decided on 5,600, not including tourists who access the Inca Trail.

Four UGM members agreed to increase the capacity, but the decision of the Ministry of Culture was missing.

"It is not being opposed, but it depends on the state of conservation of the monument and evaluation of the circuits that we host; once we evaluate the technical part, we will be able to say 'if the dynamic capacity will actually work,'" the head of the Decentralized Culture Directorate (DDC) in Cusco, Maritza Rosa Candia, recently told Andina news agency.

(END) PHS/MAO/MVB

Published: 12/1/2023

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Peru: Increasing Machu Picchu's visitor capacity is assessed

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