Ruining the Ruins: Overtourism to Undertourism @Machu Picchu

The World Wonder, a victim of its own popularity, is now facing an uncertain future in a "new normal."

Photo:  Kurier 

Introducing Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a world-renowned tourist destination. Its growing popularity in recent years has generated a tide of visitors that was, until the current coronavirus epidemic, overwhelming the ruins and site infrastructure, risking damage to the World Heritage Site. However, the Cusco region relies heavily on tourism for employment and income, and the current coronavirus crisis has exposed the tourism risk at Machu Picchu. What impacts has overtourism had on Machu Picchu and what effects will the COVID-19 pandemic have on the Peruvian tourism sector? What opportunities have emerged for tourism management and policy during this time of crisis and recovery?

Peru National Map

Machu Picchu is an Incan citadel built in the 15th century 50 miles from Cusco in a remote part of the Scared Valley region of Peru. It was never discovered by the invading Spanish colonists and remained mostly unknown to the outside world until its discovery by American Hiram Bingham in 1911 (Encyclopedia Britannica 2020). It is a bucket list destination with extreme global visibility. It's also the premier tourist attraction in Peru, and in South America, winning the award for World's Best Tourism Attraction at the World Tourism Awards in 2018 (Matsangou 2019). In 1983 it was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites and in 2007 it was declared one of the 7 New Wonders of the World (Matsangou 2019). But this fame and visibility has led to an influx of visitors that is straining the site, the environment, and the economic and social fabric of the Cusco region of Peru.

Tourism represents 9.8% of Peru’s GDP (over $20 billion), and Machu Picchu is Peru’s most popular tourist attraction, so preserving this site for future use is of utmost importance to Peru’s growing tourism industry (Matsangou 2019).

Overtourism is a challenge for destinations around the world. The massive growth of international tourism is due to greater affluence, demographic shifts, increased convenience, and awareness. The World Travel & Tourism Council identifies the five main challenges related to overcrowding as alienated local residents, degraded tourist experience, overloaded infrastructure, damage to nature, and threats to culture and heritage (WTTC and McKinsey&Company 2017). Macchu Picchu is threatened by all of them.

Overtourism at Machu Picchu

Peru is the third-largest country in South America by area, offering a diverse array of attractions in a multitude of different geographical and climatic zones. In terms of tourism, however, it is best known as being the home of Machu Picchu.

Tourists scramble for the perfect picture with a llama (Photo: Kevin Ryan)

Machu Picchu is located in a remote region in Peru. Although it is relatively close to the services center of Cusco, the access town to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, is a small settlement with just 4,525 inhabitants as of 2017, which lacks extensive services and infrastructure (Instituto Nacional de Estatística e Informática 2018, 802). 99% of visitors to the Cusco region, over 1.5 million annually, visit Machu Picchu (Observatorio Turístico del Perú 2020). This tourist flow has strained available resources in Aguas Calientes, and the cloud forest ecosystem is adversely impacted by the daily deluge of visitors (West 2019). Locals see relatively little benefit from the mass tourism (Street 2018). Revenue from tourism is concentrated in just two districts within the region, and most jobs available to locals are low-wage. The citadel of Machu Picchu occupies just .035 square miles on a dramatic mountain ridge (The Only Peru Guide 2020). Transporting goods, services, and visitors is difficult with the current infrastructure. The site is also facing new pressures in recent episodes of vandalism (Taylor and Yuhas 2020) and the construction of a new airport in the region (Salisbury 2019).

Hoards line up to enter Machu Picchu (Photo: Desiree Anne Holder)

Overtourism at Machu Picchu is not an unknown issue. In 2017 the Peruvian government enacted a two-turn system of visitation, limiting tourists to a morning or afternoon visit. This protocol established a limit of almost 6,000 visitors a day in two turns and placed more severe restrictions on behavior and circulation. These regulations saved the site from being placed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in Danger (Hosteltur 2017). Additionally, in 2019 the most delicate sites in the citadel were closed to visitors (Hosteltur 2019). Even as the Peruvian government has implemented these measures in recent years to control tourism and mitigate its effects, Machu Picchu has been subject to immense pressures by visitors that imperil the sustainability of the site. The 2015 Plan Maestro proposed minor infrastructure improvements at the site and improved forms of crowd control and congestion management (Vecchio 2015). However, more needs to be done to safeguard the future of Machu Picchu.

Tourism management at Machu Picchu is especially challenging due to the large number of stakeholders and the many local, national, and international agencies involved in its management. These stakeholders all have varying objectives and the current Master Plan is unable to reconcile these often-conflicting goals (Larson and Poudyal 2012).

Rapid Growth of Visitation

Machu Picchu has experienced vertiginous growth in visitation, rising from 146,000 visitors in 1980 to 1.57 million in 2018.

Total Visitation to Machu Picchu 1980-2018 (Source:  Observatorio Turístico del Perú )

Not only has Machu Picchu experienced rapid growth in visitation since tourism gained traction in the 1970s, it also receives far more visitors than ten other principal tourist sites in the Cusco area identified by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism. As exhibited in the bar chart below, tourism in the Cusco area is extremely unbalanced in favor of Machu Picchu.

Visitation to Principal Tourist Sites in Cusco Region 2002-2019 (Source:  Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo )

The Tourist Experience

The crowds at Machu Picchu (Source:  YouTube )

The image of the lush jungle-covered Huayna Picchu mountain rising over the desolate ruins of Machu Picchu is iconic. However, the real experience of most tourists is far from that peaceful picture. Visitors grapple with the crowds to secure the perfect selfie that provides the illusion of a solitary and contemplative visit to the sacred site. The crowds damage visitor experience and compromise the authenticity of the destination by making it difficult to connect on a personal level and envision life at the site during Incan times. Social media has played a central role in increasing the global visibility of Machu Picchu and exacerbating crowding at the site. As of August 2019, approximately 1.5 million users had posted to Instagram using the hashtag #machupicchu, and a new post is created every 48 seconds (West 2019).

In a 2017 visitor satisfaction survey, domestic tourists were less satisfied by every metric than their international counterparts, suggesting that domestic tourists are more negatively impacted by the dynamics of overtourism (Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo 2017).

Economic Impacts

Although Peru has experienced a significant year-over-year increase in inbound tourism, the economic benefits received have not matched this growth. From 2014-2018, Peru experienced 6-8% growth of inbound tourists each year. However, the average length of stay and inbound tourism expenditures have not followed the same trend, indicating that Peru is not receiving the full economic benefit from its tourism.

(Source:  UNWTO )

The Sacred Valley region also suffers from high economic leakage due to the involvement of foreign investors and few well-paying job opportunities for locals (Larson and Poudyal 2012). Purchasing power throughout the region is inconsistent, with higher levels observed in the districts of Cusco and Machu Picchu, the primary tourism draws in the area. Tourism receipts are concentrated in these districts, leading to unbalanced economic benefits throughout the Sacred Valley. Locals who do not see the benefits of mass tourism may become resentful or hostile to further development.

Purchasing Power per Capita in Peru (Dec. 2019)

This unbalance is also reflected in the distribution of tourist accommodations in the department of Cusco. 66% of accommodations are located in Cusco and Urubamba provinces (where Machu Picchu is located). The other 11 provinces share just 34% of the offering (Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo 2018).

Environmental Impacts

Condors are an iconic species of the Andes. However, due to the tourism activities around the citadel, especially helicopter activity, sightings of condors have greatly decreased in the area. The Andean condor was of spiritual significance to the Incas and there is a Temple of the Condor at Machu Picchu.

In its heyday, 750 Incans lived at Machu Picchu. Today, more than 5,000 visitors pass through every day. This heavy foot traffic is causing erosion at the site (Moss 2018).

Social Impacts

Most of the Sacred Valley has seen little economic benefit from the hoards of visitors. Many inhabitants of these traditional villages are forced to migrate to Cusco or Lima to find decent work, which wears away the fiber of traditional village life and imperils the very cultural heritage that tourists come seeking. In this part of rural Peru the poverty rate is 44% and most of these communities don't have the education and resources to take advantage of tourism revenue (Ekstein 2018).

Tourism has also led to an increase in Incaísmo, a fierce embrace of traditional Incan culture as a reaction to increased international influences in the local community. Incaísmo is a form of nationalism that has its roots in the indigenous protest again Spanish colonialism in Peru, and waned in use after independence was achieved (Yvinec 2008). However, it has taken on a new application to demonstrate local pride and dissent against damaging impacts of the tourism and mining industries. Recent surveys indicate that more Peruvians are self-identifying as Incas or Quechuas. Incan culture is a primary tourist draw in Peru and the Incan heritage is often romanticized through a Western lens. It continues to be commodified within the tourist industry, particularly in imagery and souvenirs, further alienating local indigenous groups (Sanchez 2018).

Infrastructure

The dirt road from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (Source:  sacredsites.com )

Lack of infrastructure at Machu Picchu has been identified as one of the principal drivers of overtourism (Street 2018). Accessibility is a central issue. There are only two ways to get to the citadel. The first is to complete a 3-5 day trek on the Inca Trail. The second is a planes-trains-and automobiles itinerary that involves at least 4 forms of transport. The last leg is a bus ride from Aguas Calientes on a narrow dirt road comprised of hairpin turns, which is prone to landslides. Infrastructure improvement ideas have all fallen victim to competing interests that have made compromise difficult (Moss 2018).

A new airport is currently under development in Chinchero, an ancient Incan town to the north of Cusco. While this airport is meant to ease the strain on Cusco's tourism infrastructure and shorten the journey to Machu Picchu, there are widespread concerns that the airport will bring increased crowds to the citadel, disrupt the scenic landscape of the region, and harm Incan relics (Collyns 2019). UNESCO is among those voicing concern (Collyns 2019).

Undertourism during the COVID-19 crisis

Machu Picchu experiences a rare reprieve from visitors during the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 ( Photo: Andina )

The dynamic of overtourism at Machu Picchu was upended in early 2020 with the rapid global spread of the coronavirus. The site is currently a traveler's dream: empty. Due to global travel restrictions and Peru's total travel lockdown, the site is shuttered. The Cusco ministry of culture has established protocols to honor tickets for dates later in 2020 or offer refunds. The pandemic has reversed the trend of overtourism and spawned a new reality in which the challenges of undertourism emerge.

Income & Employment

Despite the inequitable economic benefits throughout the Sacred Valley, tourism is vital to the livelihood of locals as the principal economic driver in the area (Moss 2018). For this reason, Machu Picchu and the surrounding region have a high undertourism risk and have been especially hard hit by the current crisis. The lack of tourism at the site for the foreseeable future will have reverberating economic implications.

Infrastructural & Environmental Projects

Public investment plummeted 59.4% in April 2020 as compared to April 2019 as the national quarantine in Peru halted all construction projects (Miñán 2020). Construction of the Chinchero airport is currently on hold.

As tourism revenue for the Peruvian government evaporates, funding for improvements and conservation efforts will also suffer, which may be specifically detrimental to environmental preservation.

"Desolate Machu Pichu, the quarantine slams the Peruvian tourism sector" (Source:  France24 )

Public Sentiment

As the COVID-19 crisis has devastated the tourism, hospitality, and restaurant industries, negative public sentiment towards the previous overtourism in the Cusco region has likely diminished as its people experience desperate economic circumstances. As described in this video, many Peruvians have been forced to leave the cities to join their families in small towns for financial reasons.

Opportunities During the Recovery of Tourism

The global COVID-19 pandemic has presented Peru, and destinations around the world, with an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate and redirect their tourism strategies, and for destinations to recover from the massive pressures of overtourism. Despite the extensive negative ramifications and disappointment for the many travelers whose plans were foiled by the lock-down in Peru (Chicago Tribune 2020, Wright 2020), the COVID-19 crisis may offer Machu Picchu a unique opportunity to improve, and a chance for policy makers to prevent the return of the previous conditions of overtourism.  

The WTTC has proposed several tactics to address overcrowding: smooth visitors over time, spread visitors across sites, adjust pricing, regulate accommodation supply, and limit access and activities (WTTC & McKinsey&Company 2017). The management of Machu Picchu would benefit from most of these.

Distribution of Tourism & Demarketing

Distributing tourism throughout the Sacred Valley and the country will be key to preventing overtourism from returning when the COVID-19 crisis wanes. Peru abounds with opportunities to have a singular experience, that contemplative moment seen in so many photos, if you can look beyond Machu Picchu. Peru has an enviable tourism offering with a wealth of opportunities outside the Cusco region including Lima, Lake Titicaca, the Amazon rainforest, the Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon, as well as a plethora of alternative Incan sites (GlobalData 2019, 26). Lima has become a global gastronomic hot spot, and Peru has been named the world's top gastronomic destination for seven years running (Stone 2019).

The points on the map below reflect the quantity and diversity of tourism sites, as well as natural areas (of various types and degrees of protection), in Peru.

Principal Points of Interest, Natural Sites, and Roads in Peru

Secondary tourism sites in the Cusco area with growth potential also abound. The map below demonstrates the accessibility of many other important tourism attractions from Cusco.

Cusco Area Principal Attractions (Source:  Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo )

Developing and marketing these alternative sites will be vital to reducing the tourism stresses on Machu Picchu. Peru has already made efforts to redistribute tourism throughout the Cusco region and the country as a whole. Marketing campaigns have promoted natural sites, culture, gastronomy, and wellness opportunities. Niche sectors such as birdwatching have also been identified as distribution opportunities (GlobalData 2019, 24). However, these efforts need to be reinforced.

Many destination marketing organizations are also utilizing the current crisis to express messages of solidarity and support. Campaigns emphasizing health and safety allow a destination to promote itself as conscientious and compassionate while still exposing its tourism product and establishing a sense of community (GlobalData 2020, 7). Peru would benefit from a campaign of this type that promotes alternative attractions. Emphasizing domestic tourism will also be vital as the return of international visitors will likely take longer.

Environmental Opportunities

The sudden lack of mass tourism is having positive environmental impacts on sites around the world. Destinations are witnessing cleaner water, cleaner air and rebounding wildlife presence due to the hard stop of tourism (Rotondo 2020).This reprieve is allowing species and ecosystems to bounce back from decades of damage. Machu Picchu is no exception. It remains to be seen if the condor population will be able to recover during this lull of unknown duration. Condor populations recover very slowly since a mating pair produces only one offspring every other year (National Geographic). The management of the Machu Picchu site needs to ensure that this revival is long-lasting as these populations require continued support. One policy opportunity is the permanent prohibition of helicopter travel around the Incan citadel.

Infrastructure Opportunities

The lack of infrastructure is a significant impediment to the distribution of tourism around the Peru. Peru ranked 109th out of 136 for ground and port infrastructure in the World Economic Forum’s most recent T ravel and Tourism Competitiveness Report . In order to successfully diversify its tourism industry, Peru will need to make major investments in infrastructure (Matsangou 2019).

The country is making some strides in bolstering the infrastructure at alternative tourism sites. A controversial cable car was under development in the 2010s to improve the accessibility of Choquequirao (Salazar 2013), but has not yet come to fruition (Stone 2019).

The current lack of tourists provides a rare chance for the Inca Trail to be cared for and fortified. The Inca Trail is a popular way to reach the ruins and the constant foot traffic subjects the trails to intense wear. This popularity has led to restrictions in the number of tourists admitted on the path to 500 per day (Matsangou 2019).

Socio-economic Opportunities

An alpaca wool weaver in Chinchero (Photo: Kevin Ryan)

Increasing the accommodation offering in towns outside Cusco and Aguas Calientes is an initiative that will have wide-ranging benefits. A home-stay program may be a good fit for this region as it would provide more direct financial benefits for local communities and contribute to meaningful interaction between locals and visitors.

A trade-off of the economic hardship that has forced many Peruvians to move back to their hometowns is that the social fabric of these communities may be strengthened. It remains to be seen if this reverse migration from Cusco and Lima will be permanent, but providing worthwhile economic opportunities through tourism may entice these migrants to stay in their villages and contribute to the socio-cultural heritage that draws many travelers to the Scared Valley.

Policy Assessment & Strategies

The current policies put into place in 2017 and 2019 only impact visitation at Machu Picchu's citadel, there is no wider regional policy management. Stakeholders should take this opportunity to consider a regional policy that would support the development, protection and promotion of alternative sites.

Further protections are also necessary at Machu Picchu itself, as it will continue to be the standard-bearer of Peruvian tourism. One such possibility is to limit the number of tourists admitted per day to UNESCO's recommendation of 2,500 (Matsangou 2019).

As an overarching management solution, an adaptive resource management (ARM) strategy may be a viable solution to resolve the challenges of overtourism. This is composed of several steps:

a.     Define the problem and identify goals and objectives (and subobjectives)

b.     Develop performance indicators

c.     Monitor progress

d.     Determine if objectives are being met

e.     Initiate management response

The input of all stakeholders must be considered, including the local community which brings local knowledge and concerns to the planning process (Larson and Poudyal 2012). This type of strategy may be an effective method for Peru to implement improvements to tourism management in the Sacred Valley.

Concluding Remarks

(Source: La República)

The Peruvian government's plan for reopening the economy involves 4 phases of gradual resumption of activities. Tourism sites like Machu Picchu are not forecasted to open fully until August, with a possible limited-capacity opening in July (Alcalá 2020).

It remains to be seen if that timeline will hold, but Peruvian tourism officials would do well to utilize this reprieve in tourism to improve the sustainability of their offering. The promotion of alternative sites won't mean that fewer tourists will visit Machu Picchu, since it's such an iconic destination. For this reason both improved management of the site and a wider regional policy structure should be established.

The future of Machu Picchu, and the tourism industry in general, is uncertain. Will overtourism return as before when the COVID-19 crisis wanes? Will Peru's tourism authorities take advantage of this opportunity to ease the strains on Machu Picchu and improve the circulation of tourism in the region? This pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to assess and redirect Peru's tourism trends and objectives for the future. If this opportunity is not capitalized on, Machu Picchu runs the risk of returning to the previous challenges of overtourism and the perils they entail.

Hoards line up to enter Machu Picchu (Photo: Desiree Anne Holder)

An alpaca wool weaver in Chinchero (Photo: Kevin Ryan)

Tourists scramble for the perfect picture with a llama (Photo: Kevin Ryan)

(Source:  UNWTO )

The dirt road from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (Source:  sacredsites.com )

Machu Picchu experiences a rare reprieve from visitors during the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 ( Photo: Andina )

(Source: La República)