Machu Picchu As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually exposed to economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants and a bridge to the site. Many people protested the plans, including Peruvians and foreign scientists, saying that more visitors would pose a physical burden on the ruins. In 2018, plans were restarted to again construct a cable car to encourage Peruvians to visit Machu Picchu and boost domestic tourism. A no-fly
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and ceremonial functions, crop production, and housing for soldiers from the nearby hilltop site of Willkaraqay, an ancient pre-Inca site first inhabited around 500 BC. The trail undulates, but overall ascends along the Kusichaka River. At the small village Wayllapampa ("grassy plain", "Wayllabamba") the trail intersects with the "Mollepata Trail" at . Small, permanent settlements are located adjacent to the trail, and Wayllapampa has approximately 400 inhabitants (130 families) spread along this portion of the trail. Pack animals—horses, mules, donkeys, and llamas—are allowed. At Wayllapampa the trail to Machu Picchu turns west and begins ascending along a tributary of the