Global Travelling Along the Inca Route: Is International Tourism Beneficial for Local Development?

Globalization has vastly increased the number of people travelling the globe. More than half a million tourists visit the Andean Highlands each year, many of them following the “Inca route” between Peru and Bolivia in pursuit of adventurous moments and “authentic” experiences. The governments of Peru and Bolivia have embraced cultural tourism as a strategy for economic growth, the alleviation of poverty, the conservation of cultural heritage and the protection of indigenous rights. To understand the long-term implications of tourism in the Andes, however, we need to understand what draws tourists to the area, how local people view the visitors, how locals and outsiders variously understand “poverty”, and how global travelling affects opportunities for local development. Based on a combined analysis of travel guides, interviews with Peruvian and Bolivian Andeanists and fieldwork in the southern Andes of Bolivia, this article explores perceptions of place, poverty, and international tourism's potential for economic development in the Andean region. While cultural tourism has incorporated Andean people in the consumer-oriented global economy, the majority remain socially marginalized and without sufficient access to productive resources.