This was established by the Ministry of Culture, which approved the maximum capacity of the Inca citadel.
The Ministry of Culture established in 2,244 the maximum number of visitors per day that can receive the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, the tourist icon located in the province of Urubamba, Cusco region.
This is stated in the Ministerial Resolution N° 173-2020-MC published today in the bulletin of Legal Norms of the Official Gazette El Peruano, which specifies that the decision to approve this number of visitors per day to the llaqta of Machu Picchu is based on the report prepared by the Decentralized Directorate of Culture of Cusco, through the document called “Implementation of the recommendations of the “Study of carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change for the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu – 2015″ and results obtained: 2016-2019”.
The recitals of the standard include the decision of the Unesco World Heritage Committee that urged the Peruvian State to ensure that the evaluation of the 2015 carrying capacity study focuses on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and, once conducted, is respected by applying clear limits along with regulations and differentiation of visitor flows and the promotion of alternative visitor sites outside the Llaqta and requests the State Party to finalize it and send it to the World Heritage Center, for review by the Advisory Bodies.
It adds that in Ministerial Resolution No. 070-2017-MC of February 21, 2017, the Regulation of sustainable use and tourist visitation for the conservation of the Llaqta or Inca City of Machu Picchu was approved, modified with Ministerial Resolution No. 216-2018-MC dated June 7, 2018, whose objective is to regulate the sustainable use and tourist visitation to ensure the conservation of the Llaqta or Inca City of Machu Picchu.
It also refers that, in accordance with the Sixth Complementary Provision of the aforementioned regulation, the maximum admissibility of visits for the Llaqta of Machu Picchu cannot exceed that established in the study of carrying capacity and/or limit of acceptable change approved by Directorial Resolution No. 035-2016-DDC-CUS/MC and as determined by the Master Plan of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in force, managing shifts, schedules, visitor flows, respecting the circuits and implementing adequate monitoring systems.
It also underlines that the reports N° 00159-2020-DDC-CUS/MC and N° 000197-2020-DDC-CUS/MC that the Decentralized Directorate of Culture of Cusco sends to the Vice Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Industries the document called “Implementation of the recommendations of the “Study of carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change for the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu – 2015″ and results obtained: 2016-2019”, sustain that, based on the implementation of the recommendations proposed for the management, conservation and ordering of the tourist flow of the Llaqta of Machu Picchu, it is recommended that the number of visitors that should enter Machu Picchu should be a maximum of 2,244 visitors per day.
The regulation is signed by the Minister of Culture, Alejandro Neyra Sanchez.
At present, visits to the citadel of Machu Picchu are suspended. The measure was adopted in the second half of March as a consequence of the declaration of the state of emergency decreed by the Government to stop the advance of the coronavirus (covid-19) in Peru.
The resumption of visits to the Inca citadel will begin after the implementation of sanitary protocols for the transfer of visitors, as well as biosecurity measures that must also be implemented by guides and tour operators.
Machu Picchu celebrates today the thirteenth anniversary of its election as one of the seven new wonders of the modern world. A commemoration that takes place in the midst of growing expectations for the upcoming resumption of visits to the Inca citadel, the country’
