Protests in Peru paralyze tourism. The Inca city of Machu Picchu is closed. Hundreds of tourists have already had to cancel their trips.
Machu Picchu – Over a million people visit the Inca site of Machu Picchu every year. They want to see with their own eyes the impressive city described by UNESCO as “probably the most astonishing urban creation of the Inca Empire”. However, this is currently not possible because the residents of the tourist attraction are on strike – and have blocked access to the historical site.
Numerous visitors have already had to cancel their journey or were temporarily stranded in the ruined city. This is currently a warning Foreign Office even before that it is currently not possible to travel to or from the popular attraction in the Andes.
Machu Picchu in Peru: Travel to the Inca ruins impossible – striking residents paralyze tourism
“Since January 29, 2024, the Inca city of Machu Picchu has been closed to visitors until further notice. Arrival and departure are not possible due to local protests,” it says on the Foreign Office website. The residents of the famous Inca ruin city of Machu Picchu have been on strike since last week. At least 660 tourists had to end their trips early as a result. In addition, around 1,000 visitors were stuck on site tagesschau.de.
In addition, a state of emergency was declared in the border areas between Peru and Ecuador and the military and police presence there was increased. A 60-day state of emergency was declared in the country bordering Peru on January 8th.
Dispute over ticket sales rights and mass tourism at Machu Picchu
The strike was triggered by the Peruvian government's plan to entrust a private company with handling online ticket sales for the Inca site. This is intended to help regulate access to the famous Inca site for around 4,500 visitors every day.
However, there are fears from opponents of this plan that the large number of visitors could accelerate the decline of Machu Picchu. This could even result in Machu Picchu being removed from the World Heritage Sites list. That's why there were strikes last year.
Mass tourism threatens the world heritage status of the Inca city of Machu Picchu
In September 2023, three areas of Machu Picchu had to be closed due to the impact of the high volume of visitors. Many residents of the region near Machu Picchu have therefore started an indefinite strike. Shops near the historic site remained closed and operations on a railway leading to the ruins at an altitude of 2,500 meters were also suspended.
Mass tourism is not only a problem in the Andes. The lagoon city of Venice is now also taking action against the flow of visitors and banning larger tour groups from entering. (kiba/sp with afp)
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