11:37 | Lima, Dec. 30 (ANDINA).
More than 120,000 domestic and foreign tourists visited the pre-Inca ruins of Chan-Chan in Peru's northern La Libertad region in 2013.
Henry Gayoso, head of the Special Project for the Chan Chan Archaeological Complex, said tourist arrivals are expected to grow significantly after international news channels like CNN and BBC highlighted the ancient site in recent articles.
"With UNESCO's support, we have undertaken a volunteer program for 3 weeks with people from other countries to carry out archaeological conservation and restoration works in the citadel. Those people will become ambassadors of Chan Chan," he noted.
Gayoso pointed out that more than 7 million soles has been invested in this project in order to improve tourism services.
He aded that over 350 people are working in the conservation of the Unesco World Heritage site, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America.
Gayoso said Chan Chan will be open to the general public during the year-end holiday celebrations. Prices are very affordable to the public.
"The price for local tourists is 10 soles, for college students 5 soles and for school children, 1 sol," he explained.
Chan Chan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in November 1986.
(END) LIT/MAO/DLG/EEP
Published: 12/30/2013