UJ #9 - Adventure in Peru

INTERVIEW
Right: Pilgrims Way
in the sanctuary of
Pachacamac (Lima).
Where the Qhapaq
Ñan from the coast
and the highlands
converge.
Left: Elevated
section of the
road from Cusco
to Desaguadero
alongside Lake
Titicaca.
THE CASE FILE FOR
QHAPAQ ÑAN AS
A CANDIDATE FOR
A UNESCO WORLD
HERITAGE SITE
WAS SUBMITTED
IN 2013. THE CASE
WAS MADE BY THE
SIX COUNTRIES
THROUGH WHICH THE
ROAD PASSES: PERU,
COLOMBIA, ECUADOR,
CHILE, BOLIVIA AND
ARGENTINA
The programme is organised into sections and
it is clearly impossible to work on them all at the
same time; so which have priority?
We are giving priority to the three main stretches
that were part of the UNESCO nomination; these
do not include the sections in Cusco, which are independently
managed: the Aypate-Las Pirqas-Las
Limas section, from the province of Ayabaca in Piura,
to the border with Ecuador, which is managed
as a bi-national project; the Huanucopampa-Huamachuco
section, part of the original royal road, the
true Qhapaq Ñan, between La Libertad, Ancash and
Huanuco.
Have you seen the first results of this experience
with tourism yet?
Yes, there’s one zone where we’re seeing the first
small products: Huaycan de Cieneguilla, on the Jauja-Pachacamac
section. This product is aimed specifically
at Peruvian visitors; we want people in Lima to
get out of the city of a Sunday and visit two or three
points on the Inca Trail, such as Huaycan de Cieneguilla
and the Chontay area, where we have refurbished
two hundred metres of road. For the moment
this is just a symbolic effort, but it gives an advantage
to Cieneguilla, a destination on the outskirts of Lima
suitable for family activities out of doors.
What does finished product mean to you?
Something that has the minimum amount of infrastructure
for receiving visitors: an information centre, toilets
and a route that can be covered. The rest can be added
as required. The other way round won’t work, I can’t invest
a lot of money without being sure that there will be
sufficient demand. Investing gradually starts generating
a cash flow; when the cash flow starts then other services
will start to appear and the investment will increase.
What are the main challenges to the Qhapaq Ñan
project?
Encouraging tourism with interventions that make it
sustainable implies a balance between visitors to the
road and local people. It’s complicated, but we have to
seek the proper way to intervene, with local people taking
part in the management of the road. We also need
to be aware that the State does not get involved in the
tourism industry; therefore our projects should be designed
to produce some form of business platform that
makes them sustainable.
Another important challenge is to prevent ownership of
the road ending up with it. Such a strategy can often
be a good defence mechanism, but it can also kill the
projects by allowing them to stagnate in time. We don’t
want it to be just a tourist attraction; we want it to continue
as a working road.