Machu Picchu’s position as Peru’s flagship tourist attraction is under strain amid a deepening dispute over control of the buses that carry visitors to the ancient Inca citadel.
The standoff recently stranded some 1,400 tourists and prompted authorities to deploy emergency evacuation trains.
For three decades, Consettur has operated the 20-minute bus route from Aguas Calientes, transporting roughly 4,500 people a day to the mountaintop site. The alternative – a steep two-hour hike – is unfeasible for most visitors. But Consettur’s long-held licence expired in September, opening the door to a rival operator, San Antonio de Torontoy, and igniting a fierce backlash from local groups who claimed the bidding process lacked transparency.
Cristian Alberto Caballero Chacon, Consettur’s head of operations, acknowledges recent tensions, saying “there have been some conflicts between people from different communities here”.
Protesters blocked the railway leading into Aguas Calientes, forcing officials to clear the tracks and evacuate stranded travellers.
Aguas Calientes is a remote, roadless town accessible mainly by train, making it the crucial transit point for visitors heading to Machu Picchu. Buses there help travellers avoid a steep, multi-mile uphill hike to the site. Recent protests disrupted this system by blocking the train tracks, the only practical link to Cusco and the Sacred Valley, even prompting a US travel alert.
The dispute erupted on 14 September, soon after the authorities revoked Consettur’s 30-year concession to run the Machu Picchu shuttle buses, and awarded it to San Antonio de Torontoy, the rival operator. The decision triggered clashes among local tourism businesses, leading to blockades and a suspension of services that stranded hundreds of international visitors in Aguas Calientes, the remote mountain town that serves as the gateway to the 15th-century Inca site.
Several locals argued that Consettur had enjoyed a de facto monopoly for years, and that power was simply shifting to another exclusive operator.
Tickets for the lucrative bus trip cost $24 for foreigners and $15 for Peruvians.
Amid ongoing legal challenges, Consettur continues to run its fleet while San Antonio de Torontoy awaits final approval.
“The owners of the business have been running the company for the past 30 years, and they are people who come from around here,” Mr Caballero was quoted as saying by the BBC. “This is not a monopoly.”
Consettur “is made up of 12 different companies with various partners”, including the district council, which holds a 38 per cent stake, he added.
The tensions unfolded against a backdrop of high visitor costs and uneven distribution of tourism revenue.
Travellers must first take a train to Aguas Calientes – a journey costing between $140 and $2,000 – before paying a $57 entrance fee to the site.
