Machu Picchu has changed Peru – for better and for worse

Machu Picchu is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is one of the most visited tourist destinations on Earth. However, for centuries, only a small number of Andean villages knew about the existence of the abandoned Inca city. It was “rediscovered” in 1911 by an American named Hiram Bingham. Bingham, a politician and explorer, originally traveled to Peru in search of Vilcabamba, the legendary fortress from which the Incas made their last stand against the Spanish Empire.

Bingham never found Vilcabamba, but he did find Machu Picchu. The ruined city, hidden between mountain peaks, consisted of more than 150 buildings, all incredibly well preserved. Since the Incas did not have a written language, it is difficult to say what Machu Picchu was originally built for. In fact, we don’t even know what the Incas themselves called it; the name “Machu Picchu” – Quechua for “old peak” – does not refer to the city itself, but to the mountain on which it stands.

The prevailing hypothesis is that Machu Picchu served as a picturesque retreat for emperors and nobility. Some archaeologists believe that the ruins were once used for religious purposes as well. There are at least two temples in the city: one is dedicated to the sun, the other to the condor, a bird worshiped throughout South America. The warm climate of Machu Picchu also favored the cultivation of maize, which the Incas fermented to produce a ritual drink called chicha.

AT article written for Archeology, cultural anthropologist Lynn Meish considers the possibility that Machu Picchu was neither the political nor the spiritual center of the Inca civilization, but was one of several outposts that dominate the Urubamba river valley. This explanation is supported by research. Sponsored by Yale University and the National Geographic Society, Bingham excavated a road system connecting Machu Picchu to other Inca ruins in the area, especially the more remote capital of Cusco.

Environmental destruction in the Andes

While Machu Picchu’s historical significance remains a matter of debate, its significance to contemporary Peruvian society is as clear as it is undeniable. As early as 1948, Bingham noted that the city “became a real Mecca for tourists. Everyone who goes to South America wants to see it.” In 1985, according to Meish, 100,000 people went to Machu Picchu by train, and another 6,000 chose to travel on foot. By 2019, the total number of visitors had grown to 1.5 million.

Machu Picchu has become a cornerstone of the Peruvian economy, generating countless formal and informal jobs and bringing in an estimated $40 million a year in admission fees alone — a lot more when you factor in the additional costs associated with transportation, hospitality and food. However, the growing popularity – not to mention profitability – of the Inca city is also causing quite a few environmental, political and socio-economic problems for the country.

While visitors provide the funding needed to maintain Machu Picchu, their ever-growing presence risks harming both the city and the environment. “Vibrations from thousands of kicks weaken walls,” Meish warns. “Tourists straying off the trails are eroding the soil.” In 1982, archaeologists had to disconnect the rope from the city’s Intihuatana – a functioning astronomical clock – because people continued to climb it, carving their initials into its surface and chipping off chunks of stone to take home as souvenirs.

Tourists also contribute to the destruction. Traveling through the national park on their way to the city, they dig latrines, pollute streams, and leave behind a large amount of garbage. At times, they are known to have converted Inca structures into makeshift shelters. Alberti Miori, a guide from Cusco quoted by Meish, laments the gradual disappearance of the Kenoa tree. This tree, native to the Andean highlands, is often used as firewood.

Today, more efforts are being made to reduce environmental damage than in the previous century. The integrity of Machu Picchu is monitored by several international organizations, including UNESCO. Hiking has become more regimented, with porters cooking on kerosene stoves rather than plants, and trash picking up whenever hikers start moving. People living in the national park are still allowed to put up fences and let their animals go to archaeological sites, but that’s another story.

Machu Picchu as the center of Peru

To protect Machu Picchu, the number of visitors per year must be reduced. However, this is easier said than done as many Peruvians have become dependent on the city for their livelihood. Whenever the government tries to cut down on the number of visitors to the park, Cusco’s tourism industry responds with demonstrations. “We demand the sale of tickets at the offices of the Ministry of Culture of Machu Picchu,” the traders said. AFP in August 2022 “to revive our economy”.

These merchants were hit hard during the pandemic, when traffic dropped by half and never recovered to pre-COVID levels. The arrest of former President Pedro Castillo does not help either. News of deadly protests and endless roadblocks keep foreigners from entering the country. As food stocks dwindle, gasoline prices rise. According to The newspaper “New York Timesalmost 20% of children under the age of five in the department of Cusco suffer from chronic malnutrition.

As mentioned, Machu Picchu has created a lot of work in and around Cusco. Unfortunately, he didn’t create enough of it. For every tour guide and taxi driver, there are dozens of unlicensed street vendors, shoe shiners and beggars fighting for the right to earn a living, usually to no avail. Not too long ago, the mayor of Cusco tried to expel these vendors, many of whom are indigenous, from the city center because they “intimidate” tourists.

Tourism inevitably leads to the commodification of culture. This is true for many places in the world, and Peru is no exception. In her article “The Intersection of Gender and Ethnic Identities in the Cusco-Machu Picchu Tourism Industry”, Annelo Ipey explains how indigenous women change their appearance and behavior to meet the expectations of tourists. They walk around in colorful clothes, accompanied by kids and llamas, which makes the photos deceptively authentic.

“Local reactions to tourism,” Epage says, “are mixed.” On the one hand, tourists are a source of money, good money, relatively speaking. On the other hand, their presence changes the economy of Peru in such a way that it deprives local residents not only of political, but also of cultural activity. Vendors, shoe shiners and women posing for photographs, Ipage continues, “should be seen as people who want to be included in the national tourism project and work hard to achieve this goal.” Alas, the system is not set up with their well-being in mind.