Machu Picchu centennial celebrations to be broadcast around the world

Lima, Apr. 27 (ANDINA). Celebrations for the Year of Machu Picchu’s Centennial to the World will be broadcast around the world, said Ricardo Vega, president of the High Level Commission responsible for the organization of the event.
"The event will be broadcast worldwide. The signal will be available to all channels of Peru and the world,” Vega stated.

In addition, the main ceremony and other activities, which will be part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the scientific discovery of Machu Picchu, may be viewed online via satellite.

"We want an Australian, a Dutchman, an African and a Norwegian to be able to download the program and watch it. Our main interest is that Machu Picchu becomes more known, more visited, as it is one of the wonders of the world that has received less visitors in its history,” he told Canal N.

Vega said that for the main ceremony, scheduled for July 7, all the recommendations made by the Ministry of Culture are being followed in order to preserve the Inca citadel.

Mistura short documentary wins new award in the U.S.

New York, Apr. 25 (ANDINA). Once again, “Mistura. The power of food” was awarded as Best Short Documentary at the New York Los Angeles Film Festival, in the United States.
Director Patricia Perez told RPP that the announcement was published on Sunday, although she already knew that her work was the official winner.

Last month, the film was awarded as Best short foreign documentary at the 16th International Family Film Festival (IFFF) in Los Angeles.

Perez, who lives in the U.S. and is now working on a new project, said that the Culture Ministry sent her a congratulations letter signed by the Deputy Minister Bernardo Roca Rey.

Meanwhile, renowned Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio highlighted this new international recognition of the director and her documentary. "Mistura, the power of food wins again. It’s an honor”, posted Acurio on his Twitter account.

Lima ranks second Latin American city of the future

Lima, Apr. 25 (ANDINA). Peru's capital city, Lima, ranks second in the first ever 'Latin American City of the Future' ranking compiled by fDi Magazine, belonging to the Financial Times group.
The new ranking focuses on a mixture of data and expert opinion to rank cities which have the best prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion.

Cities based in the US and Canada dominated the overall American Cities of the Future rankings. The ranking combines a North American ranking with a new Latin American ranking by compiling research on over 400 cities from fDi Benchmark and fDi Markets database tools.

While New York City dominated the major city category, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, came top among the large cities.

Santiago was crowned fDi Magazine's first 'Latin American City of the Future' for having attracted 84 FDI projects since 2003, with almost a fifth of these projects involving a capital investment of over 100 million US dollars.

Lima, Monterrey, Bogotá and San Jose de Costa Rica completed the top five Latin American Cities of the Future. Mexican cities made up four of the top ten cities in the Latin America category whereas the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Barranquilla also featured, ranking fourth and eighth respectively.

Although North American cities dominated many major city categories, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires held their own, ranking second and fifth respectively in the economic potential category, mercopress.com reported.

Sao Paulo, Lima, and Buenos Aires ranked fourth, fifth and seventh in the business friendliness category.

Richmond, Virginia was the Best Small City with Santa Clarita, California, and Columbia, South Carolina ranking second and third respectively. Pilar, Argentina, Potosi, Bolivia, and Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, ranked as the top three small cities in the cost effectiveness category.

Canadian cities dominated the quality of life category accounting for nine of the top ten micro cities in this category with North Vancouver coming out on top. The Costa Rican cities of Alajuela, Heredia and Santa Ana ranked as the top three most cost effective micro cities in 2011.

Northern Peru organizes first ‘trout festival’ in Holy Week

Cajamarca, Apr. 13 (ANDINA). On the occasion of the upcoming Holy Week, Cajamarca, located in the northern highlands of Peru, will feature the first trout festival organized by the Regional Directorate of Production in coordination with local municipality and the Regional Directorate of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Dircetur). The event, to be held on April 21-23 in the northern dfistrict of Namora, aims to promote and strengthen fish farming and tourism.

This region is famous for its trout breeders and restaurants that offer a wide variety of dishes made of this fish specie, said the Regional Director of Production, Walter Esquivel. He added that Dircetur is promoting this festival as a tourist attraction set to lure both domestic and foreign visitors, who will be able to notice the trout breeding process.

Producers will be qualified about producing and manufacturing use, and restaurant owners about vegetable stew preparation. This program will be in charge of the Peruvian Tourism Institute (Cenfotur), who will deliver several brochures about the nutritional value of this fish. Annually, Cajamarca produces 300 tons of trout in 65 fish farms distributed in different provinces of this department.

The Dakar 2012 route announced: Will finish in Lima, Peru

The Rally Dakar off-road 2012, which includes Peru as host of the four final stages and closing ceremony on January 15, was officially announced Tuesday at press conference. For its 4th South American edition, the Dakar's route has welcomed Peru as part of this world-renowned race, which will showcase the image of the country in front of the world.

“With Peru will discover new atractions, that’s why we decided to choose Lima as a host,” Director of the Dakar rally Etienne Lavigne said. See photos: Riding with the 2011 Dakar. Riders, drivers and co-pilots will be tackling a route that measures 1,300 kilometers.

They will come through Tacna, pass through Arequipa, Moquegua, Ica and Lima, where the award ceremony will take place. Enhancing the relations with the continent, this year the rally will discover Peru, giving the adventure a pan-American feel. The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass and rocks, among others.

Chan Chan citadel, Huaca del Sol y la Luna received visitors on election day

(ANDINA). The main tourist attractions of Trujillo, in the northern La Libertad region, such as the archeological complex of Chan Chan and the Huaca del Sol y La Luna opened their doors on Sunday, despite Peru’s presidential and parliamentary elections held today.

Local authorities indicated that both the Huaca del Sol y La Luna and the on-site museum received visitors from 09.00 to 16.00 hours.

According to the tourism information office Iperu in Trujillo, the number of visitors was small and tourists were mainly foreigners. For his part, La Libertad Tourist Police Chief Edwin Gutierrez said that 15 police officers safeguarded the main tourist sites.

Over 95,000 people visited Machu Picchu exhibition in first week

(ANDINA). Over 95,000 Peruvians and foreign tourists visited the exhibition of archaeological treasures from Machu Picchu at the Government Palace in Lima. The exhibition features some of the artifacts used by the Incas in their daily life, ceremonies and productive activities during ancient times, said the presidential press office.

It is open from 09:00 to 20:00 at Tupac Amaru Hall and is guided by specialized staff members from the Ministry of Culture, the Presidency and the Tourism Police. The artifacts, which include ceramics, skeletal remains, stones and metal objects which were used by the Incas, are part of the first batch returned by Yale University some days ago. The "Machu Picchu, after 100 years: The reunion” exhibition will be open to the public until Sunday, April 17.

Machu Picchu featured in Nat Geo's April issue

National Geographic magazine presented Machu Picchu on the cover of its April issue to celebration the 100 year anniversary of Hiram Bingham's rediscovery.

On the magazine's web version, features include a map of the Inca empire, an article about recent archeological research, photos from 1913, and Hiram Bingham's original article published in the April 1913 issue of National Geographic.

Kultur releases documentary on Machu Picchu

(ANDINA). Kultur is proud to announce the DVD release from the Sites of the World’s Culture Series: Machu Picchu and the Legacy of the Incas.

This one-hour documentary explores the mysteries of the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu. It will be available on DVD on April 26 at the retail price of $19.99.

Machu Picchu is one of the earth’s magical places. The ruined city seems to be the work of giants, full of mysteries, unwilling to reveal its secrets.

Nevertheless, more than any other place, it has become the symbol of the vanished culture of its architects, the Incas. They were at the height of their power when they were smitten by a hitherto unknown disease: the insatiable greed for gold which the Europeans introduced to America.

This has been responsible, right up to the present day, for the destruction of countless treasures created by the skillful Incan craftsmen, whose empire extended over three hundred thousand square miles. Despite this devastation, numerous buildings, statues and other finds still testify to the creative energy of the Incas and their ancestors.

Vargas Llosa visited Lord of Wari treasures in

Cusco, Apr. 04 (ANDINA). Nobel literature prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa arrived Monday to the Regional History Museum Casa Garcilaso in the southeastern Cusco region to appreciate the exhibition of the Lord of Wari treasures, recently discovered in the archaeological complex of Espiritu Pampa in the district of Vilcabamba.

Peruvian writer described the display as interesting and, according to him, the most amazing thing was to know about the expansion of Wari culture (from Ayacucho to the jungle of Cusco). After highlighting that this was a “great discovery”, Vargas Llosa congratulated Cusco’s Culture Regional Directorate and the archaeologists responsible for such find.

The author of The Dream of the Celt was accompanied by his wife Patricia and Vice Minister for Cultural Patrimony Bernardo Roca-Rey, among other people. The local press reported that before his visit to the Casa Garcilaso, Vargas Llosa went to the archaeological site of Choquequirao.

Machu Picchu artifacts exhibition opens today at Government Palace

Lima, Apr. 05 (ANDINA). Peruvians and foreign tourists will have the opportunity to admire dozens of Machu Picchu artifacts returned by Yale University during a free exhibition starting today at the Government Palace in Lima.

The presidential press office announced on its Twitter account that anyone interested may enter the exhibition free of charge from 09:00 and 20:00 hours. These artifacts belong to the first batch of 360 artifacts that were taken by US explorer Hiram Bingham in 1912 to Yale University in order to study them.

The 360 pieces, packed in some 30 wooden crates, arrived on March 30 at Jorge Chavez International Airport. Afterwards, the artifacts were escorted by some 600 police officers to the Government Palace under strict security measures. Peruvian President Alan Garcia opened the exhibition yesterday at 18:00 local time.

Every single Machu Picchu piece has been carefully identified and recorded by archaeologists and historians in an inventory.

Peru's Jorge Chavez named best airport in South America

Lima, Mar. 31 (ANDINA). The Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru, has been voted best airport in South America for the third year running by Skytrax Research at the 2011 World Airport Awards in Copenhagen.

Ecuador's Jose Joaquin De Olmedo Airport in Guayaquil and Brazil's Guarulhos Airport in Sao Paulo won second and third place, respectively. The main gateway to Peru also bagged the Airport Staff Service Excellence in South America award from Skytrax Research, which holds the ceremony each year.

The London-based organization determined the winners based on the responses of more than 11 million surveys completed by people of more than 100 nationalities assessing more than 240 airports worldwide over an eight-month period.

The awards rank airports based on 39 criteria, including: getting to and from the airport, waiting times at security, language skills for airport staff, prices charged in retail outlets, baggage delivery efficiency with lost luggage and terminal cleanliness.

http://www.peru-travel.info/eng/

Gastronomy House boosts tourism in downtown Lima

Lima, Apr. 01 (ANDINA). The newly-opened House of Peruvian Gastronomy will give a big boost to tourism and attract more and more food lovers to the Historic Center of Lima, according to Peru’s National Tourism Chamber (Canatur).

The head of Canatur, Carlos Canales, noted that the museum will encourage locals and foreigners to sample some of the typical dishes served in the restaurants located in downtown Lima.

Furthermore, Canales said that the opening of the House of Gastronomy occurred during the same week in which Peru was honored by the Organization of American States (OAS) as Cultural Heritage of the Americas.

Canales went on to add that for the first time our country has a theme museum dedicated to one of the cultural expressions that identify us to the world.

"Now the tourists will have another reason to go to downtown Lima and visit the places that share some of its history. The authorities will surely create circuits that will end in the House of Gastronomy to open the visitor’s appetite and take advantage of the culinary offer of the businesses in that important sector of the city," said Canales.

http://www.peru-travel.info/eng/

Tourists encouraged to hike Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Cusco, Apr. 03 (ANDINA). Visiting Machu Picchu is now on everyone's to do list during their vacations in Peru this year thanks to the 100th anniversary of the scientific discovery of Machu Picchu in July. One of the preferred methods of getting to the city is of course the Inca Trail, a widely traversed route to the ancient lost city of Machu Picchu. It is a highly popular trail for visiting tourists; this is in part due to the appeal from taking a route that was the traditional one used by the Inca. The Inca trail can begin after you visit the beautiful city of Cusco; it is a great alternative to the more common train rain from Cusco to the ancient Inca city. While both methods are scenic only one allows you to sleep under the Andean night sky as well as hike through the Peruvian highlands for 3-4 days. The views are outstanding; passing by glaciers, unique flora and fauna. The local landscape is unlike anywhere else in the world and the weather is an ever changing one. This can add to the challenge of going through the trail before finally ending up in time for your Machu Picchu tours which will be guided by a professional, bilingual guide of course. The Inca trail is considered an easy to moderate trail which can be taken by pretty much anyone willing to camp out for a few days and sleep in the Andean wilderness over night. It is definitely you should try to include into your Peru vacations and Peru travel packages. The tour in Machu Picchu will definitely put the icing on the cake during your vacation. Now there are special deals going on in reference to Machu Picchu tours which are being offered by a few agencies wanting to promote the city for the 100th birthday of the discovery of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham; there are great rates on all Peru services out there at the moment. Tour operator peruvacationtours invited adventurers to come and celebrate the centennial of Machu Picchu by taking part in the celebrations which are scheduled to take place from special tours to a final special celebration which will be filled with special guests.

http://www.inkanatura.com