Peru’s president rejects 100 dollar entrance to Machu Picchu

Peruvian president Alan Garcia on Thursday rejected a 60 dollar ticket price increase to the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu because it could “asphyxiate” tourism.

“Somebody says it is necessary to raise the entrance ticket to Machu Picchu from US$ 40.00 to US$ 100.00 per person. Nobody will accept that. With such a decision, the only thing that will happen is that we asphyxiate tourism”, he declared.

During the inauguration of the Expo Industria 2007 in Lima’s district of Ate Vitarte, he criticized that “some bureaucrats” of the National Cultural Institute (INC.) use such a price increase as an excuse for their own deficiencies in protecting and maintaining Peru’s most prominent tourist attraction.

He said this “bureaucratic decision” is a product of false information that suggests utilizing modern methods and to combine the maintenance and care of Peru’s cultural heritage with the development of the country.

Thus he was against the proposal to raise the ticket price prompting the number of visitors to drop from over 4,000 to 1,500 daily in order to avoid the the stone citadel’s destruction.

“With such a proposal tourists will go on strike and stay away. Then you tell me who is the loser?”, he asked.

Peru’s tourism minister agrees with the President. “We are not going to increase prices this year. This was an announcement made by the regional president of Cuzco who did not back it up with any technical merit, or market studies. As a matter of fact, this announcement has frightened tourists, investors, and those who work in the tourism industry,” she stated weeks ago.

The whole controversy was set in motion when the governor of Cusco, the region where Machu Picchu is located, suggested such a price hike in February which would only be applicable to foreign tourists.

Governor Hugo Gonzalez Sayan stated: “If they (foreign tourists) currently spend up to US$500 on lodging and transportation to get to the Incan sanctuary, then you know that tourists are capable of paying more than US$40″. He also claimed the current ticket revenue is not enough to maintain the ruins.

Article by Wolfy Becker