Making Machu Picchu

Speaking at a 1913 National Geographic Society gala, Hiram Bingham III, the American explorer celebrated for finding the "e;lost city"e; of the Andes two years earlier, suggested that Machu Picchu "e;is an awful name, but it is well worth remembering."e; 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 centuryfrom its "e;discovery"e; to today's travel boomreveals 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 policyas well as development and globalizationthe 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.