Speaking at a 1913 National Geographic Society gala, Hiram Bingham
III, the American explorer celebrated for finding the "lost city"
of the Andes two years earlier, suggested that Machu Picchu "is an
awful name, but it is well worth remembering." Millions of
travelers have since followed Bingham's advice. When Bingham first
encountered Machu Picchu, the site was an obscure ruin. Now
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu is the focus
of Peru's tourism economy. Mark Rice's history of Machu Picchu in
the twentieth century—from its "discovery" to today's travel
boom—reveals how Machu Picchu was transformed into both a
global travel destination and a powerful symbol of the Peruvian
nation.
Rice shows how the growth of tourism at Machu Picchu swayed
Peruvian leaders to celebrate Andean culture as compatible with
their vision of a modernizing nation. Encompassing debates about
nationalism, Indigenous peoples' experiences, and cultural
policy—as well as development and globalization—the
book explores the contradictions and ironies of Machu Picchu's
transformation. On a broader level, it calls attention to the
importance of tourism in the creation of national identity in Peru
and Latin America as a whole.