Environment, Natural Disasters, Travel/Tourism

INC rejects proposal allowing tourists to visit Machu Picchu via helicopter

Peru’s National Institute of Culture, or INC, rejected a proposal that would allow tourists to access Machu Picchu by helicopter and suspended all tourism activity to the sacred Inca citadel until conditions in the area improve.

Meanwhile, PeruRail issued a communique late Monday saying that repairs to its train line from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes — the town below Machu Picchu — should be complete by the beginning of April.  Service to Aguas Calientes from the station at Piscacucho (where the trail head to the Inca Trail is located at Km82) is expected to be back up and running before the end of March.

“Helicopter operations that have been authorized and that are continuing are exclusively for providing supplies and services for the population in (Machu Picchu Pueblo),” daily El Comercio quoted an INC press release as saying.

“We are conscious of the detriment to the level of income that these natural causes have created,” the statement continued. “But that can’t allow us forget that our primary responsibility is to the physical well-being of people.”

Machu Picchu’s only access route, besides hiking, is by train. The railway to the Peru’s top tourist attraction has been blocked since heavy rainfall, floods and mudslides battered the country’s southern Andean region.

The head of Cusco’s Regional Office for Foreign Trade and Tourism, Víctor Hugo Pérez, told state news agency Andina on Saturday they had submitted a plan to presidential Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez that would allow about 200 tourists to access Machu Picchu by helicopter. The daily flights would depart from Cusco or Ollantaytambo and cost between $160 and $300.

“To maintain the flow of tourism is fundamental,” said Pérez. “The helicopter flights aren’t the only option, we know that every February travel by the Inca trail is suspend, we are evaluating this topic, perhaps with the opening of an alternative trail.”

The Peruvian Tourism Observatory estimated the damage will cost tourism operators in the department $400 million. The director of Cusco’s tourism association, Roger Valencia, said more than 15,000 employees in the region’s tourism industry may be out of work due to the lack of tourism.

The Minister of Transportation and Communications, Enrique Cornejo, said last Friday he expects tourists will be able to access Machu Picchu in three weeks. That access would be possible over an alternate route that would take tourists overland northwest of Ollantaybambo up the Malaga Pass, and then down past the towns of Santa Rosa and Santa Teresa to the train station at the Hydroelectric Plant. From there, it’s a 10-kilometer train ride to Machu Picchu. Going that route includes a bumpy ride, and would require upwards of 12 hours from Cusco, necessitating at two two to three days to comfortably tour Machu Picchu.

3 Comments

  1. As long as the INC(Instituto Nacional de Cultura) will not give a license to operate helicopters to Machu Picchu to show the world that you want us to come to Peru why waist your governments money. Machu Picchu is what brings people to Peru. Once we are there we will go other places.

    • Elbé - South Africa

      I think it is a very good idea to refuse helicopter rides, will cause too much noise and damage. Machu Picchu stood there for ages and will still be there tomorrow and next year. I,m going in October when I turn 50. And if not this year, as soon as possible, but going I am. Be patient,all good things take time.

  2. I visited Machu Picchu via Santa Teresa and enjoyed walking along the train line to Aguas Calientes – it’s a great alternate route to the Incan ruins.

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