After the riots that claimed lives, the world tp tourist destination in Peru Machu Picchu was closed. Not yet recovered from the pandemic, now languishing again.
Before the pandemic, Machu Picchu was visited by 4.5 million tourists annually. However, when Covid-19 hit the world, the destinations from the Inca Maya era were closed.
Tourists who have depended on Machu Picchu for decades also screamed. They are stricken with fear of not being able to eat because their income from tourists is gone.
After easing and limited opening, slowly tourism practitioners in Machu Picchu have hope. Hope conditions can be like before, crowded with tourists.
However, when hope is being upheld, suddenly there is a riot that destroys Peru's tourism, including Machu Picchu. Weeks of clashes have taken place and left 48 people dead in clashes between protesters and security forces since December 7.
Supposedly, tourism can recover in 2022 and 2023. But with this riot, it seems that this recovery condition is getting further. The tourism workers returned disappointed and bemoaned their fate. The famous site that captivates world tourists, Machu Pichu is closed again.
"Look, there's nobody. It's empty," complained Juan Pablo Huanacchini Mamani, one of the Peruvian tour operators working at the Ollantaytambo site, as quoted by AFP, Tuesday (31/1/2023).
Huanacchini has worked in the tourism industry at this site that serves as the gateway to Machu Picchu since she was a child. Now the Ollantaytambo site, which normally receives 4,000 visitors a day, is deserted.
Wearing a helmet, belt, gilded armor and sandals, Huanacchini stared blankly from the Ollantaytambo Inca ruins in Peru. His Inca warrior costume glistens in the sun, but the 48-year-old doesn't feel any joy.
Information for travelers, Ollantaytambo is a village in the Sacred Valley of southern Peru, situated on the Urubamba River amidst snow-capped mountains. Here you will see local people wearing colorful clothes and walking around with brightly colored alpacas.
Located about 60 kilometers from Cusco, Ollantaytambo as the old capital of the Incas acts as a hub for those visiting Machu Picchu. It also has the stunning ruins of an Inca fortress, though not as spectacular as those at Machu Picchu.
But protesters allowed it to open only on weekends, when nearly 100 tourists visit. Roadblocks, airport closures and the suspension of the train service serving Machu Picchu have worried tourists visiting the area for fear of being stranded.
"We are very sad. We live off tourism, if there is no tourism..." said Huanacchini.
"We live day to day. Sometimes I get 100 soles (26 cents). How will I get anything if there's no one? This is a terrible crisis," he added.
According to the tourism ministry, the riots cost the country 25 million soles per day with hotel occupancy rates dropping by 83 percent.