Trujillo is a northern coastal city in Peru. It is the center of the ancient culture Moche. There is an ancient Moche temple in Trujillo called Las Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (referred to as Las Huacas later in the text). Last December I paid a visit to Las Huacas. I was amazed by the magnificent murals and the unique structures of the temple. As a foreigner, I felt enlightened about the Moche culture at Las Huacas. Nevertheless, most overseas tourists are not so interested in Las Huacas as I am. Indeed, Las Huacas has one of the lowest proportions of international visitors among all sites in Peru. In 2016, only 22.4% of its visitors are from abroad1. What makes Las Huacas so unappealing to international travelers?
It is not hard to find the answer since I visited Las Huacas in person. I realized that guided tours were offered in Spanish and English when I checked the website before my visit. Nevertheless, I was told at the gate that the English guide was unavailable that day. To me, this was not a problem because I could speak Spanish. However, there were two Americans in the tourist group who spoke no Spanish at all. It was such a pity for them because the guide explained the Moche background stories so well, yet they did not understand a single word. I tried to translate everything into English so that the Americans understood what the guide was saying. However, I was sure that certain things were lost in translation. These two Americans were lucky because at least someone in their group was bilingual. About 40% of international visitors in Peru last year came from areas where Spanish is not the dominant language1. Still, English tours were not offered regularly at the site, and a group must have at least 15 people for the English tour to be offered. This is very disappointing to tourists who do not speak Spanish because they often do not come in a big group of 15 people. Without an English tour guide, the tour just becomes meaningless to them, because they can not understand the explanation at all.
The absence of regular English tour guides is what discourages international tourists from visiting Las Huacas. During my entire trip in Peru, I noticed that sites with regular English tours had more international tourists than those without regular English tours. Take Machu Picchu for example. They provide guided tours in English, Spanish and many other languages at the gate. Although the entrance fee does not include the guide, a lot of visitors are willing to hire a guide to enhance their experience. The variety of language tours provided attracts a lot more international visitors to the site. In 2016, around 70% of all visitors to Machu Picchu are foreigners2. This is more than three times the percentage of international tourists to Las Huacas. Of course, language is not the only thing that explains the gap. Difference in reputation and quality of exhibition my also contribute to the disparity of overseas tourists. However, Las Huacas can do better at attracting tourists from abroad by providing English guided tours on a regular basis and post the schedule of English tours on their website. Thus, more tourists will go to Las Huacas since they no longer have to worry about the language barrier. They can simply check the schedule online and visit Las Huacas at the time with a designated English tour.
As more international visitors travel to Las Hucas, its reputation will also grow. Las Hucas currently suffers from insufficient publicity. According to Google Trends, the interest of search for Machu Picchu extends all around the globe while nowhere other than Peru has interest in searching for Las Huacas. Regular English tour eases this problem by attracting more international tourists3. When these visitors go back to their own countries, they can recommend Las Huacas to their family, friends and strangers, in person or via online blogs and travel websites such as TripAdvisor. More people will hear of Las Huacas and be willing to visit it during vacation, which in turn boosts the reputation of Las Huacas when they return home after vacation. In the end, this would be a virtuous cycle of attracting more international travelers and increasing publicity for the site.
Las Huacas is one of my favorite places during my trip in Peru. As a former Moche temple, it is the key to understand the religion and culture of Moche. Many ceremonial knives, potteries and portraits of Moche gods were discovered at this site. Its architectural design also stands distinct. As the Moche people built new temples, they did not tear down the old ones. Instead, they only enclosed the old temples with new ones. The world deserves to know about this unique marvel of Moche. To make it happen, the site should offer English guided tours on a regular basis.
About the author: Qiwei Shao studies Economics and Latin American Studies in the University of Toronto. He often takes advantage of his vacations to cover swathes of Latin America. This is a piece where he reflects on his visit in Trujillo, Peru.
References:
1 http://perureports.com/tourism/
2 http://datosturismo.mincetur.gob.pe/appdatosTurismo/Content2.html
3 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%2Fm%2F0krfy,%2Fm%2F04q_lv
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