(Ollantaytambo) Looking into the distance, the “Inca” with his helmet, belt, protections and golden sandals, his colorful fabrics, poses mechanically in front of the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo, gate of the famous Machu Picchu in Peru. The costume shines in the sun, but the heart is not there.
Shaken by unrest that has killed 48 people since December 7, Peru, whose economy is based in part on tourism, a major provider of jobs, attracted some 4.5 million visitors before the coronavirus pandemic.
The sector was counting on 2022 and 2023 to rebound, but the unrest and the political crisis have scared away tourists, leaving those who make a living from it helpless.
“The Inca” Juan Pablo Huanacchini Mamani, 48, who has worked with tourists since childhood, is sorry to see the site “deserted”.
Located about sixty kilometers from the city of Cuzco, the Inca and tourist citadel of the country, Ollantaytambo, gateway to Machu Picchu, usually welcomes up to 4000 visitors a day on its famous terraces.
There are now only a hundred on weekends, the only two days when the site is open, with the agreement of the protesters, to allow the inhabitants to survive.
“It’s desolation”
The Andean regions, in the south of the country, are at the origin of the dispute arising from the attempt to dissolve the Parliament of former President Pedro Castillo, dismissed on December 7. The demonstrators demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the immediate holding of general elections.
“We are living in a terrible crisis. Hotels, restaurants, peasants […] traders, vendors… We live off tourism, but there is none. Usually, I can earn 100 soles (35 Canadian dollars per day), but what can I earn if there is no one? It’s desolation,” he laments.
According to figures from the Ministry of Tourism, the crisis is costing the country 25 million soles per day ($8.7 million) with an 83% drop in hotel occupancy rates.
In Cuzco, Abel Alberto Matto Leiva, regional director of tourism aligns figures that make you dizzy. “75% of the population in Cuzco (1 million inhabitants), works directly or indirectly in tourism. 9,000 guides, 5,000 porters (on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu), 2,500 travel agencies and a whole chain” with “hotels, restaurants, taxis” as well as all the stewardship, he underlines.
Some 20,000 people are unemployed, projections for March are 120,000, he adds.
In Cusco, countless restaurants and hotels have preferred to close to keep costs down.
” Life buoy ”
“We are in free fall and we don’t know when it will stop,” explains Henry Yabar, vice-president of the hotel chamber, who closed his 3-star establishment with around fifteen rooms.
“Right now, there are 250 people (tourists) in town. In high season, it’s 10,000! “said Mr. Yabar.
The political crisis deals “a fatal blow after the pandemic. We are talking about 95% cancellations, ”he says. Some 30% of the 1,200 hotels and hostels – the majority small, locally-owned establishments – have “already gone bankrupt”, he says.
He is asking for a “lifeline”, a state emergency plan, a moratorium on loans taken out during the pandemic, tax deferrals. “We hope that it will be better in July. “We”, those who have survived…”
In markets for tourists, the vast majority of stalls are closed. Filomena Quispe, 67, 35 of whom spent selling handicrafts, knits in her small place near the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco. Surrounded by hats, the old lady, adorned with a multicolored Andean shawl, waits in vain for customers.
“I didn’t sell for a single floor today. What’s left for me to do? Shut up and go in,” she said.
“This month, I haven’t sold enough to eat. We live with our small savings. We don’t receive any help, we craftsmen are forgotten, ”she continues, without holding back her tears.
Thousands of traders living in the informal economy have little or no income, while 14,000 local artisans should see their outlets drastically reduced, according to the authorities.
In Ollantaytambo, the rare tourists console themselves, sometimes with irony, for the situation. “The visit is fantastic, there is no one there except us”, underlines Sandeep Cliff, doctor in London.
“We came here especially to go to Machu Picchu, which was a lifelong dream. As I get older, I thought to myself “it’s time” and a week ago I was told that it was closed! “”, he says
However, he remains a philosopher: “It’s a shame for us […] but for the people here it’s hard (they) are protesting for a reason and we have the privilege of being able to travel. (The troubles) it spoils the holidays a little but they have their reasons and we must respect them”.