The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, one of Peru’s tourist jewels, reopened after a blockade of almost eight months due to the health crisis caused by the spread of Covid-19.
This emblematic point of the Inca culture returned to receive tourists since November 2, after months of solitude and forced silence due to the restrictions decreed by the Peruvian government to try to curb the impact of the pandemic.
So that tourists can marvel again in the middle of this mythical indigenous citadel, the authorities determined that the reopening will advance only with the reception of 30% of the visitors it normally receives, which is equivalent to 675 per day.
In its official Twitter account, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism celebrated the measure and invited locals and foreigners to approach this place with all the biosecurity measures.
“Today Machu Picchu opens. It opens with health and safety protocols, it opens to say that we are reactivating, but with responsibility and great caution,” said Rocio Barrios, head of the Foreign Trade and Tourism portfolio.
During the morning of this Sunday, the first train with tourists arrived at Machu Picchu, after a journey of more than 90 minutes from the ancient town of Ollantaytambo.
The closure of this architectural jewel worsened the crisis of several sectors that benefited from the arrival of visitors to this area located in the mountainous area of Cusco.
Dozens of restaurants, travel agencies, hotels, tour guides and transportation companies were plunged into a deep financial crisis for almost eight months due to the blockade caused by the sanitary emergency.
According to what cab drivers such as Eberth Hancco, a worker at the Cusco airport transportation station, told the international news agency AFP, “the situation has been very bad, because Cusco depends on tourism”.
It is estimated that, before the onset of the crisis, at least 80 hotels operated in the Ollantaytambo area. However, due to the closure, many of them could not resist and went bankrupt.
The reopening protocol
In recent weeks, the Peruvian authorities have implemented a reactivation protocol aimed at guaranteeing the health safety of visitors to this corridor which, before the pandemic, could receive up to 5,000 tourists per day.
First of all, the use of masks will be obligatory for visitors during the entire tour, which can only be done in groups of a maximum of six people, with a distance of at least two meters between them.
The sanctuary, which was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO and subsequently catalogued as one of the seven wonders of the modern world in 2007, can only be visited by those who comply with the required measures.
According to official balances, the tourist operation of this attraction generated income to the national coffers for more than 5,500 million dollars per year.
Steps in the economic reactivation
In only the first five days of ticket sales, the first 8,000 free tickets offered for the visits to be made during the next 15 days of reopening were already sold out.
Since the beginning of October, Peru opened its air borders and reestablished flights with Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, a list that is expected to be joined in November by Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the United States.
Travelers arriving from international destinations must present negative results of a molecular test (PCR) performed less than 72 hours before taking the flight, as well as a sworn statement of their health status, their itinerary and the commitment to announce if they present any symptoms of Covid-19.
So far, Peru has confirmed the detection of 902,503 infections and 34,476 deaths due to the virus, so health agencies insist on the need for citizens to comply with protective measures.
