Machu Picchu, Peru's most famous tourist attraction, has had its fair share of struggles over the past few months.
After stranded visitors were airlifted out last month and overcrowding resulted in halted ticket sales last summer, now the Incan site has closed "indefinitely" due to ongoing violent protests against the country's new president, it was announced this week.
Tour operators, such as Manuel Sanchez-Palacios, who works for Peru for Less, expect the closure to last for about two weeks, but the aftereffects of political instability to linger much longer.
"Sadly, this will affect tourism for the next few months and all people involved," he tells The National. "This includes everyone from the local artisan who depends on selling handmade goods to tourists, to the tour guides, and then larger agencies like us. Anyone who operates in Peru will feel the effects of this, especially after the temporary closure of Machu Picchu."
Protesters have been demanding the resignation of Peru's President Dina Boluarte, since she was sworn in last month after serving as vice president. Since then, 46 people have died and the government has imposed a state of emergency in certain areas of the country.
They want her predecessor, the ousted left-wing Pedro Castillo, to be released from jail where he's facing charges of rebellion and conspiracy.
"As a country, we are hurting socially and politically, and seeing the image of Peru being damaged as well is painful," says Sanchez-Palacios. "I know this is a dream destination for many travellers, and as a Peruvian, I only want to share the beauty of experiencing my country."
Sanchez-Palacios advises tourists who are planning to travel to Peru, or visit Machu Picchu, to hold on to their tickets and travel dates.
"If you booked with an agency, ask for their postponement policy, and if the worst comes to worst, you can always postpone or transfer your travel credit," he advises. "If you didn't book with an agency, follow the recommendations of who emitted your tickets."
Right now, the company he works for, which offers custom tours and travel packages at affordable prices, is experiencing a deluge of cancellations and postponements, but they're offering customers solutions such as lower fees, extended or transferable travel credit and alternative itineraries with other brands in the group.
Peru has been through worse, he says, and Machu Picchu remains an "extremely important" site. The citadel was built in the 15th century as a religious sanctuary for the Incas at an altitude of 2,490 metres. In 2018, it attracted 1.5 million visitors. Last summer, capacity was at 4,044 visitors a day, increasing steadily since the Unesco World Heritage attraction reopened in October 2020. The UN has described it as “probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height".
"Tourism has always rebounded in Peru no matter the circumstances; we've been through much worse, including the pandemic, so I would still hold on to current travel dates unless they are within the next two weeks," Sanchez-Palacios says.
He recalls a situation in 2010 when Machu Picchu closed for two months due to a heavy mudslide that nearly destroyed Aguas Calientes. "We spent months suffering the consequences," he says.
The most recent closure is mainly due to railway damage, which left hundreds of tourists and civilians stranded for hours as protests raged.
"Luckily, the damage to the rails is not as significant as it was in 2010, and we hope that trains will resume soon after Machu Picchu reopens," he says.
Ultimately, he is confident the unrest will settle soon. "And once it does, I hope travellers will visit without hesitation," he adds.
"I would ask all travellers considering travelling here to please keep Peru in their hearts."
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Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
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Number of tracks: 10
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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