Machu Picchu, Peru: Exploring the Impacts of Tourism (Report)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru, examining its economic, social, and environmental effects. It explores the positive aspects, such as job creation, revenue generation, and cultural exchange, while also addressing negative consequences like price increases, cultural loss, and environmental degradation. The report investigates how tourism has influenced infrastructure development, resource management, and the preservation of cultural heritage sites. It also looks at the challenges posed by increasing visitor numbers, including erosion, waste management issues, and the potential for damage to the historic site. The report references relevant literature and concludes by emphasizing the need for sustainable tourism practices to balance economic benefits with environmental and cultural preservation in Machu Picchu.

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The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 2
THE IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON MACHU PICCHU, PERU
INTRODUCTION
Tourism involves the movement of individuals to nations or places outside their typical condition
for individual informal reasons or business purposes. The tourism industry is one of the fastest
growing industry thanks to increased globalization making it a boon for many nations especially
nations that are in the development bracket and are entirely dependent on tourism as a major
source of revenue for the nation (Enea 2007). Peru's greatest tourist attraction is the Machu
Picchu, it is proclaimed as the "Lost City of the Incas" by American voyager Hiram Bingham,
who rediscovered the site which was almost forgotten over 100 years back has developed into a
traveler magnet. Transports brimming with guests routinely crisscross here and there the street
that prompts this container list goal constructed hundreds of years back, high in the Andes. Amid
the rule of the once-capable Inca in the early ages, the site occupied roughly one thousand
individuals give or take and last year it saw over five thousand tourists daily especially in the
lucrative months of July and August. Therefore, this shows how precious the site is to the Peru
government and its residents in general. However, the main question here is how tourism impacts
a country? in particular Machu Picchu, Peru. The impacts; negative and positive are dived into
several categories, these are the social & cultural impact, economic impact and finally
environmental impact. These impacts will be discussed in this paper while reviewing their
literature in perspective of Machu Picchu, Peru as a case study location.

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 3
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM ON MACHU PICCHU, PERU
Positive impacts
Through tourism employment and business opportunities are created exponentially. Over 1.2
million jobs are created both directly and indirectly which accounts for one out of every 12 jobs
in Peru which is significantly a good number for the government to work with. The government
of Peru is able to generate revenue significantly through tourism in macho Picchu both directly
and indirectly (Lew, Hall and Williams2008). This is achieved through of accommodation and
restaurants in the region, airport taxes sales taxes, Inca trail and Machu Picchu entrance fees etc.
The entrance fees ticket which goes for roughly twenty dollars could generate close to two
million dollars for the country while the Inca trail generates three million dollars annually. The
region is also able to benefit from the foreign exchange where tourists from Europe, USA, and
Asia are able to travel to the country Every time these tourists spend a dime through the purchase
of goods, accommodation and so on in Peru, it will boost the country’s economy (Meng and
Siriwardana 2016). This also contributes to the multiplier effect where injection of new money
through tourism circulates the local economy. Since tourism has been a pivot to the success of
Peru’s economy. It motivates the Peru government in developing and maintaining infrastructures
such as better water and sewage systems, roads, electricity, telephone and public transport
networks, this also results in improving the standards of living of the members of a community
The Negative Impacts
Increase in tourism activities tends to result in an increase in demand for basic goods that results
in hiking of these prices. Tourism development and the related rise in real estate demand may
dramatically increase building costs and land values. This results in increase living constraints
for the local residents as it makes it harder to afford these good. Tourism improvement can cost
the county governments and local citizens a lot of cash. Developers may need the legislature to

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 4
enhance the airplane terminal, streets, and other foundation, and conceivably to give tax cuts and
other money-related favorable circumstances, which are exorbitant exercises for the legislature.
Public assets spent on sponsored foundation or assessment breaks may lessen government
interest in other basic territories, for example, instruction and wellbeing. although tourism
increases job opportunities in the country, some of the jobs tend to be temporally or seasonal.
These jobs tend to be filled with insecurities since individuals are not assured of the next season.
It also lacks quality in skills and motivational basis due to the lack of training, medical related
benefits, and recognition of their experiences. Last but not least there are cash leakages in the
sense that the cash earned by tourism does not remain in the nation but rather is utilized to pay
for imports required by tourist(Meng and Siriwardana 2016).
SOCIAL-CULTURAL IMPACT OF TOURISM ON MACHU PICCHU, PERU
Positive impacts
Tourism offers cultural exchanges through the interaction of different individuals from different
backgrounds with different beliefs and practices fosters cultural exchanges which in the long run
establishes peace and respect for each individual. Moreover, it offers a learning experience
where local residents of Machu Picchu can learn foreign languages and new skills to further
boost communications and improve the tourists experience at Machu Picchu. Tourism likewise
helps the local residents in Machu Picchu with the budgetary estimation of natural and cultural
destinations and can invigorate a sentiment pride in local and national legacy and enthusiasm for
its protection. The foreign currency brought to the country motivates the Peru government to
develop and maintain infrastructures such as roads, railways, and sewage which would not have
been developed initially if there was no a Machu Picchu tourist attraction site. It encourages the
residents to protect the attraction sites through civic involvement which instigates pride in their
culture (Larson and Poudyal, 2012).

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 5
Negative impacts
May prompt the loss of customary qualities and culture through impersonation of tourist
behavior or social dissemination coming about because of ordinary, regular cooperation.
Tourism also limits resource and services for the residents in Peru in the sense that they compete
for these services instead of using the more luxurious ones(Van den Berghe and Ochoa 2000). In
the long run, it leads to increase in prices of goods and services due to the increase of good and
services, this makes the cost of living for the residents to increase exponentially. Desecration of
burial sites and the removal and display of human remains from Machu Picchu to further
stimulate tourism. This has contributed to the destruction of the Indian spiritual heritage which
has caused a stir in the Indian community which could further lead to a negative attitude towards
tourism by the Indian community in the region. Since some of the jobs related to tourism are
seasonal and not of quality, it could lead to some of the residents turning to crime which is also
spearheaded by overcrowding and congestions in narrow roads and footpaths
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF TOURISM ON MACHU PICCHU, PERU
Positive impacts
Tourism can fundamentally add to natural security, protection, and reclamation of organic
assorted variety. What’s more, feasible utilization of characteristic assets? On account of their
appeal, perfect locales and common zones are recognized as important and the need to keep the
fascination alive can prompt formation of national parks and untamed life parks. Public
appreciation and environmental problem awareness are constantly increased by tourism through
bringing people into closer contact with nature and the environment. This encounter may uplift
the consciousness of the estimation of nature and prompt a naturally cognizant conduct and

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 6
exercises to preserve nature. In the event that it is to be reasonable over the long haul, tourism
must fuse the standards practices of economical utilization.
Negative impacts
Up to 2,000 individuals visit the Machu citadel consistently, with guest numbers developing at 6
percent a year. The site is by and large gradually eroding by vacationers' feet as well as the
residents. Moreover, Machu Picchu is situated among the steep inclines that are continually
being disintegrated by overwhelming downpours and landslides which are a common thing.
Despite the fact that the recuperation of the original terraces, a considerable lot of which, is
covered under the vegetation, helps to stabilize the slopes and ensure conservation, it is a costly
undertaking (Vilímek Klimeš , Vlcko and Carreño 2006). The number of individuals climbing
along the Inca Trail ascended from six thousand in 1984 to eighty-two thousand in 2000 and
continues to rise years down the line. The trail is being disintegrated and tea packs and water
bottles litter the course, where campgrounds are rare. Unorganized urban development in the
region with human waste drew coordinate into the Urubamba stream. Aguas Calientes has
mushroomed in measure as more lodgings and eateries have been worked to oblige the
requirements of visitors, and the weight is obvious in the piles of refuse heaped along the banks
of the Urubamba river. Helicopters have been permitted to fly in sightseers and work low-flying
visits, thereby irritating the serene nature of the remains, as well as possibly harming them.
Peru's Institute of Natural Resources said those flights prompted the vanishing of an uncommon
type of orchid and the Andean Condor from the area. along the Inca trail, timber has been cut for
fuel which has caused forest fires on occasions in the region which has debilitated Machu
Picchu. The main method of travel to Machu Picchu was through train which was essential since
it kept tourist under control in reaching the site. However, plans to build a road from Cuzco and a

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 7
cable car running from the valley to the top of Machu Picchu could lead to irreparable harm
being done (Van den Berghe and Ochoa 2000).
CONCLUSION
The increment of international tourism to Peru as a result of globalization has enormously
affected the improvement of Peru and the Peruvian resident's thanks Machu Picchu. As Peru
industrializes by including more framework, for example, hotels and accommodations or
methods of transportation, the social-culture, economy and particularly the environment are
influenced in many ways. Since the tourism business is an essential and developing industry in
Peru's economy, local modernization improvement of infrastructure and natural obliteration are
generally being influence (Larson and Poudyal, 2012). Peru pulls in numerous vacationers due to
its regular magnificence and customs, yet it is obvious that these angles are being overlooked and
decimated by the government keeping in mind the end goal to create through modernization. The
recently growing tourism industry in Peru ought to profit the nation and its kin, yet there are
numerous staggering impacts as Peru builds up this industry through modernization. However,
Machu Picchu is a key attraction in Peru that ought to be preserved by both the residents and the
Peruvian government since tourism is a key industry in the country’s economy

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 8
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Enea, C., 2007. The tourism industry of ethics and tourism. Management and Marketing
Craiova.
The tourism industry is one of the biggest enterprises on the planet, and in spite of late
occasions that have made its working condition more mind boggling, the industry keeps
on developing Proportionate to the measure of the business is a development in the
quantity of understudies seeking after degree courses in tourism around the globe. In spite
of an inexorably advanced writing, the relative recency of the business and its
examination has implied little consideration has been paid in the morals writing to the
predicaments confronting tourism chiefs and its understudies. In light of meetings with
senior individuals from the tourism business six situations are created with relevance to
the difficulties looked by industry experts today.
Larson, L.R. and Poudyal, N.C., 2012. Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive
resource management: A case study of Machu Picchu, Peru. Journal of sustainable
tourism, 20(7), pp.917-938.
This journal article investigates the mind-boggling issues encompassing tourism at
Machu Picchu and presents a potential arrangement: a versatile administration approach
in view of the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) practical tourism system.
This integrative system represents numerous points of view and combines different
objectives grasped by various partners, including the Peruvian government, global
protection associations, outside voyagers, private visit administrators, territorial experts

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 9
and indigenous groups. The emphasis on Machu Picchu as a versatile administration
contextual analysis site diagrams key advances prompting execution, offering arranging
and arrangement suggestions for manageability activities at various creating world
tourism goals confronting comparative political and financial difficulties.
Lew, A.A., Hall, C.M. and Williams, A.M. eds., 2008. A companion to tourism. John Wiley &
Sons.
This book illustrates how tourism is considered in the light of late hypothetical
improvements in tourism ponders and the sociologies, and in addition sensational
changes in the working condition for tourism. A basic outline of flow investigate in
tourism thinks about. Offers peruses a chance to reassess enter topics in tourism thinks
about in the light of late improvements, for example, psychological militant assaults,
SARS and the money related disappointment of aircrafts. Involves 48 extraordinarily
appointed papers, composed by in excess of 50 recognized specialists from around the
globe. Spreads bleeding edge points of view and themes, incorporating tourism's part in
globalization, supportable tourism, and the state's part in tourism advancement..
Meng, S. and Siriwardana, M., 2016. Assessing the Economic Impact of Tourism: A
Computable General Equilibrium Modelling Approach. Springer.
This book utilizes a processable general balance (CGE) show – a broadly utilized
monetary model which utilizes genuine information to give financial investigation and
approach evaluation – and applies it to monetary information on Singapore's tourism
industry. The creators set out to exhibit how a fledgling modeler can procure the essential
abilities and learning to effectively apply general harmony models to tourism thinks
about. The parts disclose how to construct a calculable general balance show for tourism,

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 10
how to direct reenactment and, above all, how to examine demonstrating comes about.
This connected investigation goes about as a demonstrating book at both early on and
middle of the road levels, particularly focusing on understudies and specialists who are
occupied with and wish to learn processable general balance displaying. The creators
offer astute investigation of Singapore's tourism industry and furnish the two
understudies and analysts with a guide on the best way to apply general balance models
to real monetary information and reach exact determinations
Van den Berghe, P.L. and Ochoa, J.F., 2000. Tourism and nativistic ideology in Cuzco,
Peru. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(1), pp.7-26.
The city of Cuzco, Peru, is a noteworthy fascination, both in its own privilege and as a
passage to Machu Picchu. This examination investigates the connection between the
improvement of ethnic tourism and a nearby philosophy of adoration for the Inca past and
for all parts of indigenous culture, including the Quechua dialect. In spite of the fact that
incanismo and tourism have very unique roots, they bolster cooperatively on each other:
both are world class marvels. The previous is an energizing philosophy of nearby pride
and identification of territorial personality, particularly for the urban instructed classes of
the city of Cuzco which are likewise the important recipients of tourism. In the meantime,
nonetheless, incanismo explains and keeps up a patrimony that pulls in visitors, and this
cultivates the bundling of a tourism ware
Vilímek, V., Klimeš, J., Vlcko, J. and Carreño, R., 2006. Catastrophic debris flows near
Machu Picchu village (Aguas Calientes), Peru. Environmental geology, 50(7), pp.1041-
1052.
Slope movements together with concentrated river disintegration and the accompanying
amassing are the main procedures in the landscape advancement in the territory of Machu

The impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu, Peru 11
Picchu town (previous Aguas Calientes), which is found near the Machu Picchu
Sanctuary. Flotsam and jetsam streams influence the bottoms of valleys or gullies, as well
as garbage fans at the ends of the seepage bowls, which are vigorously occupied at a few
spots. The latest occasion in the Machu Picchu town happened in April 2004, yet a few
others were reported in a more extensive region in the last 50years. The field
examinations at Machu Picchu together with oral declaration uncovered the nature and
conduct of the flotsam and jetsam stream. Machu Picchu town can be surveyed as a zone
with high avalanche hazard in connection to its urban improvement. Regardless of that,
the town recorded a fast development (triple populace increment) without urban control
inside the previous two decades. Precipitation, which is the primary activating component
of the flotsam and jetsam streams, and normal risk administration of the Machu Picchu
town are talked about in this paper.