The regulation authorizing the gradual increase in the number of visitors to the Llaqta (Inca citadel) of Machupicchu —the crown jewel of Peru’s tourist sites— has been made official by the Ministry of Culture.
This was established by Ministerial Resolution No. 000263-2021-DM/MC, which was recently published in the official gazette El Peruano.
The document states that said increase will be handled in accordance with Ministerial Resolution No. 173-2020-MC, under the terms provided by the Complementary Assessment Report on the Increase in the Visitor Limit to the Llaqta of Machupicchu.
As is known, Resolution No. 173-2020-MC —promulgated in July last year— established that the maximum capacity would be 2,244 visitors per day.
In addition, Ministerial Resolution No. 000263-2021-DM/MC states that the Ministry of Culture was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a technical report to assess the increase in the number of visitors to the Inca citadel.
In this sense, the Decentralized Culture Directorate (DDC) of Cusco prepared the “Assessment Report on the Increase in the Visitor Limit to the Llaqta of Machupicchu” and the “Complementary Assessment Report on the Increase in the Visitor Limit to the Llaqta of Machupicchu.”
Both reports provide for the possibility of gradually increasing the visitor limit to Peru’s main tourist destination, including the implementation of the following alternate access routes: Machupicchu Mountain, Waynapicchu Mountain, Huchuypicchu Mountain, and the Inca Trail Network No. 4.