International Campaign to promote the return of tourists to Machu Picchu, Peru held

The principal destination in the country had a drop in visitors after the heavy rains that cut off their only means of access.

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Martin Perez, said the international and local campaign conducted jointly with the tourism operators and other industry-linked to avoid cancellations and fulfill the goal of receiving 2.2 million foreign visitors this year.

Last week over 4,000 people were rescued from the town of Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu, about 2450 meters over sea level and 1,100 miles southeast of Lima, in an unprecedented operation in the country to evacuate tourists trapped by heavy rains.

Machu Picchu, declared a World Heritage Site and one of the seven new wonders of the world, is the icon of tourism in Peru and a great magnet for the business sector.

The local company operating the railway reaching Machu Picchu, PeruRail, estimates that the railway clearing blocked by landslides of mud and rock that fell by the rains, would take at least seven weeks.

"We will start an intensive campaign both domestically and abroad to promote the return of tourists to Cusco and the Inca city of Machu Picchu during the last week affected by a severe storm," Perez told the state news agency Andina.

Cusco authorities have predicted that, as at this moment there is no access to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, operators promote other tourist attractions like the stone fortress of Sacsayhuaman, the Inca palace Coricancha and Inca monuments as Pisac and Moray.

"This is an opportunity also to reassess the fate Cusco as a whole. We are confident that people will keep coming to this city because they only go to Cusco justify a trip," said regional president of Cusco, Hugo Gonzales.

The Peruvian government has stated that a major storm has left more than 23,500 victims, 4,600 homes damaged or destroyed, 16,000 hectares of cropland affected and nine bridges 'seriously' affected.

The rains, common in the Peruvian Andes during the summer on the Pacific coast, are exacerbated due to El Nino weather phenomenon, which experts say will last until the start of the summer of 2010.