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campgrounds like Marampata, Chiquisca, or Playa Rosalinda, all within a couple miles radius of the archeological

park. For those motivated hiking tourists who have visited both sites, Choquequirao certainly tends to be preferred

over Machu Picchu. “Rambling along the bumpy road from Cuzco out to Cachora,” explains Mark Johanson, a

writer for the Lonely Planet, “it becomes

abundantly clear that I’ve left the feverish Machu Picchu crowds behind and am now entering into the less

polished corners of the Peruvian Andes. These are the fabled hills of the Inca, though they’re not the ones most

visitors fly across oceans to see.” (Johanson, 2016). So secluded, the park certainly is considered a treasured and

hidden jewel to many who have visited – much like Machu Picchu claims to be, but sorely misses with its more

recent crowds.

Sitting so near to Choquequirao, if roads (or potentially cable cars) were put in place and official travel agencies

began organizing better-known tours of the park, it holds the potential to gain additional crowds and revenue

much like Machu Picchu. But with that comes multiple considerations that could both benefit Peru, and cause

potential problems as discussed below.

i. BENEFITS

• Increase in revenue for Peru would help benefit the restorations of other sites. A more keep awareness of

the richness of sites around Peru would potentially increase tourism as a whole expanding outside just that

of Machu Picchu.

• Crowds already present in Machu Picchu would be a segue into Choquequirao as another site to visit.

Tourists are already in the country and near the site that is three times the size of Machu Picchu.

• Two main possibilities could come from adding Choquequirao as a site as important as Machu Picchu to

visit: 1) Tourists may switch to only visit Choquequirao instead of Machu Picchu, or 2) Choquequirao

would be tied to Machu Picchu to extend a tourist’s visit of Peru. Both possibilities have benefits. One,

taking tourists away from Machu Picchu would help in the maintenance of Machu Picchu as a site and

decrease crowd damages. Adding Choquequirao as a second site to visit would only increase revenue and

the demographics to where tourists reach the areas of Peru.

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