The number of tourists visiting Machu Picchu, grew by nearly 130 percent between January and April 2011 compared to the same period last year, reported the consultancy company Maximixe.

"Between January and April of this year, 244,061 tourists visited Machu Picchu which represented an annual growth rate of 129.1 percent," they said, in an article in Andina.

Of the total tourists, 75.5 percent were foreigners.

Maximixe noted that these figures could have been even if the social conflicts in Puno hadn’t occurred. They noted that the conflict generated the cancellation of several tours in the country.

Other tourist attractions that saw an increase in the flow of visitors were the National Reserve of Paracas, Ica, with 42.4 percent growth and 65.921 visitors, and the Belen Monument Complex in Cajamarca with an increase of 35.5 percent.

Between 2005 and 2010, the tourist site that recorded the most dynamic growth in the number of visitors was the city of Caral, located north of Lima. Caral had 24.7 per cent growth.

The archeological sites of Kuelap in the Amazon saw 15.3 percent growth, Moray Cusco 15 percent, Kotosh Huánuco 14.4 percent, the Colca Valley in Arequipa 11.7 percent and the Quistococha Resort in Loreto had a 11.7 percent increase in the amount of visitors.

Maximixe said that "while the amount of visitors to these places is less than number who go to Machu Picchu, it is a remarkable growth, which will be even greater when you create the appropriate infrastructure and couple it with the network of services that the business requires.”

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