Including the Outsiders: The Contribution of Guides to Integrated Heritage Tourism Management in Cusco, Southern Peru

This paper examined the level of integration at national, regional and local level between archaeology and tourism within Peru. It specifically considered the extent to which the tour guide can be a bridge between the site, the local people and the visitor. It was found that the quality of the bridge depended on the quality of training provided to tour guides and that, to some extent this depended on the different merits of coming to guiding through a trained archaeological route or through tourism studies.

The research undertaken revealed that conservation and site management issues were not being communicated to visitors. So most tours do not engage with day-to-day tensions and realities rather only description of past historical events or points of archaeological interest and Inca culture.

The theoretical framework for the research was largely informed by Cohen’s idea that tour guiding involves interpretative processes that engages and makes sense. The methodology used was case study based involving interviews with tour guides. Two case studies were selected Raqchi, located on the road that leads from Peru to Bolivia, and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Interviews were conducted with official tour guides by the researcher.

The interviews revealed that most guides considered themselves to be under-prepared and in competition with each other. They also perceived themselves to be in competition from local tour guides who touted for trade virtually from their doorsteps and had the added advantage of conferring ‘local colour’. A further factor which effected the research finding was that the organisational structure of tourism in Peru could be said to be over-departmentalised. The researched argued that more and different forms of training was need both in Cusco, where much of the training was taking place, and at a local level.

This paper was selected for inclusion in The International Library Essays in Tourism, Heritage and Culture, New Edition, (June 2006), edited by Timothy Dallen.