—located in Urubamba province, Cusco region— welcomes more than 5,000 visitors per day at the beginning of 2025’s final quarter and is approaching pre-pandemic figures,
Despite the ongoing efforts to address management and transportation issues on the Hiram Bingham Road—which connects the town of Aguas Calientes with the Machu Picchu Inca citadel and has even led to protests and service disruptions—Peru's main attraction is close to surpassing 1.5 million tourist visits this year, a figure similar to that recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gercetur Cusco Chief Rosendo Baca told Andina News Agency that around 15% of year-end bookings were estimated to have been canceled due to the protests last September.
However, that scenario is now behind, and everything has returned to normal.
"We are already close to surpassing pre-pandemic levels; we are at 97%," the official noted.
"If you check the ticket sales platform of the Ministry of Culture (Mincul), there are no tickets available for October and November. So, we are talking about real figures, real data; we are close to surpassing the pre-pandemic levels of 2019," he explained, noting this trend as a clear indicator.
The regional official stated that the public sector is on track to surpass said figure, which is the goal pursued following the events of recent years.
However, Baca emphasized that tourism development in Cusco goes hand-in-hand with other attractions in the country's south and north, all of which are strengthened by the recognitions Machu Picchu continues to receive as Best Destination, among others, as well as by Peruvian gastronomy.
"All of this will continue to boost tourism activity," he pointed out.
"We hope to reach pre-pandemic levels. I believe that achieving 1.5 million visitors at Machu Picchu and the 4 million projected nationwide would be an important indicator."
Domestic tourism declined
Although the number of foreign visitors is encouraging, there might have been a decrease in domestic tourism —a sector that had seen significant growth after the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was local travelers who visited Cusco and Machu Picchu to help revive tourism, a change that merited assessment by Gercetur.
According to the official, the reduction amounts to up to 12,000 visits so far this year "because we don't have convenient options through Peru Rail ticket sales, and there are no easy ways to purchase tickets to (access Machu Picchu)."
"What are our business owners thinking, about domestic tourists or foreign tourists? I believe that is where the reflection lies," Baca said.
"I believe that Peruvians, the people of Cusco, and visitors from other regions deserve the same quality of services. I think we should not 'elitize' the service and ignore others. In this effort, where both the private and public sectors take domestic tourists into account as a key audience, we will continue to grow and achieve the highest influx of tourism," he expressed.
