Tourism Visitation in Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, announced in 2007 (Clayton and Price 2013). Built around mid-1400s, the Incan city is a man-made citadel, situated between two towering peaks of Andes in Peru. The site was unknown to the local people until 1911, when American archeologist Hiram Bingham discovered it (Maxwell 2012). It is the icon of Inca civilization and also referred to as the ‘Lost City of the Incas’. The case study on Machu Picchu will discuss and analyze the statistics on tourist visitation in Machu Picchu and its implications, the attractiveness of the location according to the tourism theories, issues and impacts of tourism on Peru and policy implications for sustainable tourism in that location.
Machu Picchu is a natural and cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site and holds the 9th place among the top 20 sites (peru-explorer.com 2017). Since its discovery 107 years back, the tourist visitation has been increasing very rapidly. As per the reports of Peru Tourism, the number of local as well as international tourists is growing in a significant way, which made the site one of the most famous and leading tourism destinations in South America. As highlighted by Whitman (2017), 58% of the foreign tourists come to Peru for visiting Machu Picchu. The site receives almost 3000 local and international tourists daily. In 2007, the site received 800,000 footfalls, and within the next eight years, as it was declared one of the new Seven Wonders, the footfall almost got doubled to 1,419,507 (Wouters 2017). Another report shows that, the tourist visitation grew extremely rapidly since 1980s, when the average income of people across the world started to rise due to global economic growth and importance of tourism started to increase. It is seen that in 1980s only 10,000 people visited Machu Picchu while the number increased to 1.2 million in 2013, which is almost a 700% increase (Whitman 2017).
Figure 1: Growth in tourist number in Machu Picchu, 1980-2013
(Source: Whitman 2017)
A survey on the top tourist locations in South America shows that 41.6% of the total tourists visit Machu Picchu in 2015, making it the first among the top destinations, followed by Colca Valley (8.2%) and Paracas National Reserve.
Figure 3: International visitors by country of origin, 2015
(Source: perureports.com 2015)
It is seen that maximum number of foreign tourists are from Chile (31.7%) visiting Machu Picchu, followed by 17.4% from the United States, 7.4% from Ecuador. The other major countries are Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Spain, Uruguay, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Germany and the UK (perureports.com 2015). Hence, it can be inferred that, majority of the visitors to Machu Picchu come from the South American countries and the United States, compared to the European and Asian countries.
Destination Attractiveness
The attractiveness of Machu Picchu can be explained by applying pull and push factors of tourist motivation or satisfaction. As defined by Dann, push factors of tourism are those that encourage the individuals to leave their home and set on to travel to a different place for several purposes, and pull factors of a destination are those, which attracts the visitors towards a particular destination (Correia, Kozak and Ferradeira 2013). The push factors originate from the home of the individual while the pull factors originate from a tourist destination. The pull factors for Machu Picchu are the history and culture of the Inca civilization, adventure, and its status as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, and the push factors are the desire to gain knowledge, to experience a part of the history of 15th century, travelling and pleasure. People often get motivated to travel to Machu Picchu due to its rich cultural history of the Inca civilization, to explore the beauty of the man-made marvelous citadel on the Andes and also to be a part of the adventure for traveling to the site and hiking on the Inca trail. Numerous companies and the tourism department of Peru arrange tours for visiting, camping and hiking on the Inca trail in Machu Picchu, which work as another pull factor for the destination. Other than these, the advanced transport system, accommodation facilities and high quality of food service all work as pull factors for Machu Picchu (Bourdeau and Gravari-Barbas 2016)
The growing tourism in Machu Picchu has contributed immensely in developing the economy of the location as well as that of the country. However, in recent years, the number of visitors increased at such as high level that it has become a matter of concern to the authority. It was a place with no visitors 107 years ago and from there, it has become the magnet for almost 1.4 million visitors. In 2017, almost 5000 tourists visited the site daily during July and August. The numbers bring their own peril. As highlighted by Connolly (2017), many tourists do such things that they should not be doing, such as, climbing the structures, taking out stones, and marking the floor. Such activities are quite harmful for a heritage site like this. Maintaining the sustainability of the site is a big challenge for the government while accommodating such a huge tourist footfall.
There are some socio-cultural issues in the societies of Peru which create issues for the tourism. The controversy over the Chinchero airport and road block, the suspension of trains due to strike of the Departmental Federation of Cusco Workers, and protests by teachers across the nation are occurring in other sectors but the turmoil that is created by these is affecting the tourism development (peru-explorer.com 2017). Tourism requires a stable government and economy. Peru’s economy is highly dependent on the tourism of Machu Picchu and some few other destinations and issues in that sector affect the entire economy.
Issue Analysis
Weakness of the infrastructure is another major issue in Peru’s tourism. The site is located in a remote place and people have to travel by train, helicopter or foot. Hence, accessibility is a big challenge for Machu Picchu tourism. It is found that, although the site is brimming with international tourists, the accommodation, service and infrastructure are still not up to the mark. The weak infrastructure is an obstacle for Peru tourism to reach its full potential (tourism-review.com 2017). The delay in increasing the size of Jorge Chávez (AIJCH) airport is a major issue in tourism development. The airport was meant to hold a capacity of 10 million passengers, while now it has to hold 16 million, 60% excess of the maximum capacity (Anuar et al. 2012). The low cost airlines also need to be developed to cater to those tourists who prefer to travel in economy. Along with that, it is also found that the tourism in Peru is severely dependent on Machu Picchu. The government must focus on other destinations to make a balanced economic and tourism development of the nation. In this regard, to reduce the tourist pressure from the southern tourist route, the northern tourist route was developed by introducing cable cars (Lew, Hall and Williams 2008). The investment capital is often a challenge for the Peruvian government for developing tourism. Apart from that, maintaining sustainability is another challenge for tourism development, as increasing pressure of tourists are creating pressure on the environment.
The tourism in Machu Picchu has both positive and negative impact on the community. Economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism are most prominent from tourism development. The development of the tourism activities has led to the regional development, in terms of economy and infrastructure. It has also created many jobs in the surrounding community. The revenue earned from the tickets contributes almost $3 million annually (Larson and Poudyal 2012), and through tourism, the government earns high amount of foreign exchange. On the other hand, due to the growth in the number of visitors, the demand for the basic goods increased in Cusco and nearby regions. This resulted in the hike in the prices for accommodation, food, and other amenities, especially during the peak season. The price of land and real estate has increased significantly along with the price of other basic amenities. The tax amount has increased too. This is creating constraints for the local people. As the rate of growth in income is not at par with the living cost, the local residents struggle hard to meet the ends (Van den Berghe and Ochoa 2000). Apart from that, majority of the jobs created are temporary or seasonal. Hence, people involved in those jobs feel insecure and there is not much improvement in their economic condition. Lastly, Meng and Siriwardana (2016) pointed out that the economy of the Machu Picchu region suffers from cash leakages, that is, maximum amount of the revenue earned from tourism often goes out of the economy to pay for imports rather than investing in regional development.
The socio-cultural impact of tourism also has positive and negative impact. Due to growth in tourism, socio-cultural exchange happens among people from different cultural backgrounds. The local people come to know more about the other worlds and improve their services to international standard. On the other hand, the local people are getting deprived of the resources and basic amenities to make provisions for the tourists, which are hampering the economic and social condition of the local communities (Enea 2007).
The environmental issues are the most worrying factor for Machu Picchu. The immense increase in visitors and transport are creating impact on the heritage site. On one hand, the sustainable tourism practices are increasing awareness of people about the importance of preserving the nature and environment of Machu Picchu, while on the other hand, the increasing footfalls at the heritage site are creating pressure on the environment. The risk of possible landslide, cable car pressures, and impact on the Inca trail are few important environmental issues in Machu Picchu (news.nationalgeographic.com 2015). According to some geologists, a massive landslide could occur and the stone ruins can deposit into the Urubamba River below, similar to the landslide happened in 1995 (Vilímek et al. 2006) and can also ruin the site. The installation of cable cars increased the footfalls by another few millions and geologists pointed out that continuous vibration from the cable car poles can trigger the potential landslides. Lastly, as the popularity of Inca trail hike has increased, the amount of litter has also increased (Maxwell 2012). This is a serious damage to the nature and environment of Machu Picchu.
The tourism departed of Peru is determined to impose regulations to achieve sustainability of the Machu Picchu environment. Hence, some measures were taken to promote environmental awareness and encourage sustainable practices to preserve the world famous heritage site.
The growing tourism has helped in the growth of the tourism industry in Peru, especially in Cusco. Hence, although the Peruvian government is willing to increase the tourism activities, UNESCO has highlighted the perils of environmental damage that can damage the site.
- In 2011, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture imposed measures to curb the footfalls. Entrance to the destination has been limited to 2500 a day and access to the Inca trail is limited to 500 permits a day among which 300 goes to the guides and porters.
- The fee for hiking increased from USD 17 to USD 50 to limit the number of hikers.
- The government will also impose limits like guided tours will be conducted with only 20 people in a group, who will be allowed to stop for short time periods only at the demarcated places.
- The guides will have to wear uniforms and credentials, as they will have exclusive access to some of the vulnerable places.
The implications of these policies are to protect and preserve the nature of one of the most beautiful heritage wonders on earth. The increase in tourism to Machu Picchu was beneficial to the Peruvian economy, however, the immense growth in the number tourists is creating environmental damages to the site, which will have serious implications in the future. With ever increasing number of tourists from around the globe, Machu Picchu is no longer a lost city.
References
Anuar, A.N.A., Ahmad, H., Jusoh, H. and Hussain, M.Y., 2012. The roles of tourism system towards development of tourist friendly destination concept. Asian social science, 8(6), p.146.
Bourdeau, L. and Gravari-Barbas, M., 2016. Immediacy, Photography and Memory: The Tourist Experience of Machu Picchu. In World Heritage, Tourism and Identity (pp. 143-158). Routledge.
Clayton, P.A. and Price, M., 2013. The seven wonders of the ancient world. Routledge.
Connolly, C., 2017. ‘Lost City’ no more, Machu Picchu feels the strain of booming tourism. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-machu-picchu-tourism-boom-dangers-travel-0611-20170526-story.html
Correia, A., Kozak, M. and Ferradeira, J., 2013. From tourist motivations to tourist satisfaction. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 7(4), pp.411-424.
Enea, C., 2007. The tourism industry of ethics and tourism. Management and Marketing Craiova.
Larson, L.R. and Poudyal, N.C., 2012. Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive resource management: A case study of Machu Picchu, Peru. Journal of sustainable tourism, 20(7), pp.917-938.
Lew, A.A., Hall, C.M. and Williams, A.M. eds., 2008. A companion to tourism. John Wiley & Sons.
Maxwell, K., 2012. Tourism, environment, and development on the Inca Trail. Hispanic American Historical Review, 92(1), pp.143-171.
Meng, S. and Siriwardana, M., 2016. Assessing the Economic Impact of Tourism: A Computable General Equilibrium Modelling Approach. Springer.
News.nationalgeographic.com, 2015. Machu Picchu under Threat from Pressures of Tourism. National Geographic News. Retrieved from: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0415_020415_machu_2.html
peru-explorer.com, 2017. Peru Tourism Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.peru-explorer.com/peru_tourism_statistics.htm
perureports.com, 2015. Peru Tourism Reports. Retrieved from: https://perureports.com/tourism/
tourism-review.com, 2017. Tourism in Peru should not rely only on Machu Picchu. Tourism Review News. Retrieved from: https://www.tourism-review.com/tourism-in-peru-needs-to-improve-the-infrastructure-news5333
Van den Berghe, P.L. and Ochoa, J.F., 2000. Tourism and nativist ideology in Cuzco, Peru. Annals of T Vilímek, V., Klimeš, J., Vlcko, J. and Carreño, R., 2006. Catastrophic debris flows near Machu Picchu village (Aguas Calientes), Peru. Environmental geology, 50(7), pp.1041-1052.
Vilímek, V., Klimeš, J., Vlcko, J. and Carreño, R., 2006. Catastrophic debris flows near Machu Picchu village (Aguas Calientes), Peru. Environmental geology, 50(7), pp.1041-1052.
Whitman, M., 2017. How many tourists visit Machu Picchu annually? Machu Picchu Trek Guide. Retrieved from: https://www.machupicchutrek.net/how-many-tourists-visit-machu-picchu-annually/
Wouters, K., 2017. World tourist hotspot Machu Picchu experiences a difficult year. Peru Reports. Retrieved from: https://perureports.com/2017/12/16/machu-picchu-experienced-difficult-year/
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