The citadel of Machu Picchu, perched high above the Urubamba River in Cusco, is aiming to attract about 5,000 tourists a day as soon as the opening time for visitors is extended, it was reported on Friday.
Cusco’s regional governor Rene Concha Lezama pointed out the new opening times will be from 08:00 to 13:00 and 13:00 to 20:00 every day.
This new schedule, set to bring in more tourists from around the world, will become effective starting next month.
“This move comes after the Ministry of Culture announced that only 2,500 local and international tourists would be able to visit the site every day; however that doesn’t meet the demand of Machu Picchu’s tourism boom,” Concha told Andina news agency.
On the other hand, he claimed it is necessary to monitor the number of visits to the site, since the unceasing footsteps of thousands of tourists over the ruins result in wearing down the ancient stones at the Inca fortress.
In this regard, the regional governor highlighted the facts that tourists might be required to wear special shoes with rubber soles in order to walk through some areas of the archaeological site, so that stones at this site remain intact.
(END) LIT/MAO/RMB
Published: 6/27/2014