Cusco’s Casa Concha opens doors for Machu Picchu exhibition

Cusco’s Casa Concha, owned by the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad de Cusco (UNSAAC), has opened its doors for two weeks to exhibit more than 360 artifacts from Machu Picchu that were recently returned by Yale University.

The artifacts will be displayed in two rooms in the Casa Concha, located about half a block from Cusco’s main plaza, state news agency Andina reported.

The opening was inaugurated by UNSAAC’s rector, Victor Raul Aguilar. In the first two hours of the opening, which is free for locals and tourists, the exhibition attracted about 100 visitors. Read more…

Peru Gov’t looks to increase visitor limit to Machu Picchu

Peru’s Ministry of Tourism and Foreign Trade said Tuesday that a recent study supports more than doubling the number of visitors to Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca citadel perched on a mountain top in Cusco region.

Currently, the daily limit on tourists that can enter the Machu Picchu site is set at 2,200. According to state news agency Andina, the ministry’s study suggests the citadel can withstand 5,479 visitors a day. This would allow Machu Picchu, a World Heritage Site, to receive approximately 2 million tourists a year.

The study is in direct contrast to the opinion of UNESCO, which has criticized proposals in the past to raise the limit on the number of visitors, arguing that it would be unsustainable Read more…

Machu Picchu centennial celebrations begin

Peru began celebrations  Thursday for the 100th anniversary of the “discovery” of the Inca citadel Machu Picchu with musical shows and light displays at the site for some 200 guests, including President Alan Garcia.

During the day, dances were performed in the streets of Cuzco, the starting-off point for the thousands of tourists that visit Machu Picchu every year. The dances included waca waca, danzaq, paucartampus, qhapac negro, among others, daily La Republica reported.

Cuzco’s regional government also organized painting and photography exhibitions in the San Francisco and Espinar plazas. Read more…

Ex-PM Simon urges Humala to focus on conflicts in central, southern Peru

The incoming government of President-elect Ollanta Humala will need to provide more attention to central and southern Peru in order to reduce social conflicts, said former Prime Minister Yehude Simon.

Simon recommends Humala form a team aimed at preventing protests, state news agency Andina reported.

Over the past few months, social conflicts have led to numerous deaths and cost local economies millions.

In southern Puno region, at least five people were killed after weeks of protests by Read more…

Report: Puno protests cost region $117 million

Protests in southern Peru’s Puno region resulted in costs of at least $117 million, daily El Comercio reported.

The major cost of the demonstrations, which began May 9 and lasted for 45 days, was on the tourism sector as a result of some 300,000 travelers cancelling trips.

According to Puno’s regional tourism chamber, Caretur-Puno, the protests cost the sector approximately $100 million. Read more…

Inca Rebellion of 1536 Archaeological Tour

Puno authorities plan tourist campaign to restore image

Puno’s regional office for foreign trade and tourism (Dircetur) is planning a campaign aimed at promoting tourism to the southern Peruvian department following weeks of protests against mining concessions, state news agency Andina reported.

The campaign will aim to promote the local population, the region’s art, culture and tourist circuit, which includes Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake.

Dircetur head Lourdes Abarca said the office will seek support from Peru’s export and tourism agency Promperu to promote and organize the campaign.

“The vandalistic acts [from the protests] affects our image, but Puno isn’t like that,” Abarca said. “We aren’t going to remain with crossed arms. We will keep working to develop tourist products and strengthen the [tourist] circuit.” Read more…

Inca Rebellion of 1536 Archaeological Tour

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Gov’t to invest $356 million to develop northern tourism route

Peru’s government is planning to invest 1.0 billion soles ($356 million) over the next 3 years in the country’s northern regions on infrastructure to develop tourism, Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros said.

Government tourism promotion agency PromPeru previously announced that it would start a marketing campaign in 2011 to promote tourism to the Moche Route, which includes sites in Lambayeque and La Libertad.

The intention is to develop route as the country’s second biggest tourist destination thanks to historical and archaeological attractions. Read more…

Peru celebrates UNESCO inscription of Danza de Tijeras and other Andean ritual dance

Peru is celebrating this week after UNESCO inscribed two ritual dances in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritiage of Humanity.

On Wednesday, UNESCO announced that the scissors dance, a traditional competitive dance from Quechua villages in Peru’s south-central highlands, and Huaconada, a festival dance from the central Andes, met the criteria for worldwide notice.

“We are a country of talented people and I’m very happy that our friends, the scissors dancers, have this recognition,” state news agency Andina reported musicians Bartola and Marco Romero as saying.

“We hope that in the coming years other cultural expressions from Peru receive a similar seat of honor,” said Peru’s Culture Minister Juan Ossio.

Scissors dancers hold in their right hand iron rods, which represents scissors blades. The dancer, which wears a multicolored outfit, forms a team with a violinist and a harpist that represents their village or community. Read more…

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