Tourism in poor regions and social inclusion: the porters of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Abstract

In this paper, tourism's role as an agent of social exclusion/inclusion is examined in the context of the integration of Peruvian Southern Andean communities into the global tourism industry as porters on the Inca Trail. This is an arduous four-day hike leading to the archaeological complex of Machu Picchu. After years of mistreatment following the development of the Trail in the 1980s, these highly marginalised peasants living in high mountain villages mobilised themselves in a struggle for better working conditions. This paper explores the workers’ pathway to socio-economic mobility, a discussion based on qualitative data and guided by indicators of social exclusion as they relate to economic integration, employment, access to services, political representation, participation in civil society and social capital. It is argued that an increase in income generated by their involvement in tourist service provision cannot justify the porters’ mistreatment, and that an understanding of structural local inequalities is crucial to appraise poverty reduction. Despite some material benefits from this new, sporadic, employment opportunity, the assault on porters’ dignity, their enduring poor health and a widespread awareness of being exploited by the industry, raise fundamental problems relating to endemic inequalities and injustice.

Keywords:

• tourism
• social inclusion/exclusion
• poverty
• porters
• Peru

Notes

1. Use of abbreviations in this paper indicate that certain references are in Spanish; see the References for full bibliographic details.